Messi - a serious question?

[hbruz80]

It is not a case of City not being good enough for Messi, no other club is good enough for the 'little genius.' You need to understand two things, firstly, where he has come from (I posted a documentary on the "Let's buy Messi" thread which details his origins and how difficult it was for him to continue playing football). Secondly, you need to try and grasp what it means to be from Catalunya (I think most people will agree that Messi is an honourary Catalan). Barca is a symbol of their identity and of their struggle for self-determination, these feelings transgress football, for a Catalan Barcelona defines who they are.

In his current form Messi will NOT be allowed to be sold, and he has already established that he wants to stay at Barca for life. Some people have said, that he may get bored and want a new challenge, unlikely (did Pele get bored at Santos, Raul at Madrid, Totti at Roma?), but still possible. However, if that happens I can only see him going back to Argentina (he has said that the only League he follows closely is the Argentinian League), and despite being at Barca from the age of 13 he still has a deep love for Argentina (hit boots are emblazened with the flag of Argentina). He may also wish to recapture the love of his home fans, who still (rather ungratefully) refer to him as "the Catalan" (although winning the World Cup may go someway towards appeasing them).

If, like Ronaldinho he loses his love for the game (for the sake of football I hope this never happens), and starts to lose his form, then of course there is a possibility that he may seek pastures new (my guess would be Argentina over England). I know that Sheikh Mansour keeps in very close contact with the Barcelona hierarchy and be rest assured, that if even the slightest glimmer of hope emerges that he may wish to move on, an offer comparable to the GDP of a small country will arrive at the Barca President's doorstop.

For now, forget about it. Let us just revel in watching the captivating magician at work and appreciate the scintillating performances of arguably the greatest player of his generation.

Aside from the well-documented his early years, injuries growing pains etc, the Catalan issue is less of an issue.

After all, both Fabregas and Pique came through at the same time, are from Catalunya, unlike Messi, yet had no compulsion leaving when they did.

Granted, one has returned, another may not be long off doing the same, but these are two examples against your argument.

Like you, believe it is a pipedream at present, but as you say, any encouragement...

Wenger exploited some loophole to get Fabregas as he did with another promising youngster Fran Merida (N.B: Wenger is not the most popular man in Barcelona, almost as well hated as Mourinho)! Also, these players left because they felt they had no chance of getting into the Barca team (Fabregas knew that Xavi and Iniesta were ahead of him in the pecking order, and Pique felt that as a young centre back he would not get a chance in the Braca first team), however both still harbored hopes that they would one day return (when Fabregas was 10, Guardiola gave him his signed shirt which read one day you will be the number 4 of Barcelona). The stuff I said about Cataluyna only applies to players in the first team, why would they leave when they are at the club of their dreams.

 

[terryphelan]

Mourinho would be cheaper and more attainable than Messi, and bring just as much prestige and fame to the club

 

[Danamy]

Like you said forget Ribery as he's a Real Madrid player next season!

Thought this was recently denied by both Bayern and the player!

I don't know what has been said recently but i've been led to believe that it's happening?

 

[Cambridgeblue]

Have seen couple other threads re Messi is great, Messi - Let's buy him!

But on a more considered actual debate, and similar to the Kaka attempt...

What do you feel it would realistically take for an actual approach to be considered worthy of consideration by Barca.

At the end of the day, they are an astute business.

I look at where were are in our current development, visions for our future, and believe the magnitude of this one signing, would achieve so much in terms of worldwide recognition and progression on and off the pitch.

We will no doubt waste a lot more money trying to find the right formula in the coming seasons.

But for me, £150m plus Robinho would at the very least kickstart a process similar to Kaka.

Allied to wages of £1m a week - £48m a year (I know this sounds ridiculous, but he earns £29m a year now, what we would make off the back of him in terms of success and new fans)

£300m is a small investment in the grander scheme of things as it would progress us five years in two minutes.

The boy is 22-years-old - an agreement with Barca to allow him to return in three to four years (when he is at his peak) would also, I believe, deliver something of a unique proposal, again worth of consideration.

Our owners dream big, admittedly, the boy is Barca to his core, adored by them, but for the mere issue of debate, certainly attainable in terms of the market level we operate at.

Clearly Kaka had the final say, but there is no such thing as bad publicity. How can it be ridiculed going after the best player on the planet.

At the very least, it will 'smoke out' other quality players who will see how high our aspirations are.

I don't think we'd get him in the next 2 years or so but I do think he may get tired of La Liga after a few years and may want to try his hand at winning trophies in another league - after all he's won La Liga 3 times already... By then we may have a chance.

Would love to see him and Tevez together, maybe with a couple of other Argentinian additions (Higuan and Gago maybe?)

 

[CITY FOR LIFE]

Don't need him to be honest we have Adam Johnson and he will be world class next season. !!!!!!!!!