There exist a breed of people that need no introduction whatsoever; and Lionel Messi is one of them. 2 days ago, FCB officially announced that Messi has formally asked the club for a departure. If this transfer takes place and Messi leaves the club, it will be one of the most hyped and talked about transfer of the decade. Let us take a look on his journey and see if he will/can leave Barca by understanding the factors allied to this gigantic move.
Atomic Flea and his Glory
Born on 24 June, 1987, Leo is among the most recognised faces on the earth. A player widely considered as one of the greatest footballer all-time, Messi started his football journey with a local club named Grandoli and was coached there by his father. Messi later on joined Newell’s Old Boys club, where he stayed for 6 years and scored as much as 500 goals. Newell’s were pretty much unbeatable at that time. But soon, at the age of 10, he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. Although Newell’s Old boys initially agreed to contribute for the hormone treatment, they reneged on their promise later on. Messi had relatives in Catalonia, so his family arranged a trial at Barcelona in 2000. He made his first debut for senior team at the age of 16 years and 4 months and 23 days in a friendly match against FC Porto.
From that point, he moved forward and never looked back. As of now, Messi sits on a throne of 10 La Liga titles, 4 Champions League titles, 6 Copa del Rey, 7 Spanish Super Cups and 3 FIFA Club World Cups. Talking about individual honours, Messi have 6 La Liga best player of the year awards, 7 Di Stefano Awards, 3 Don Balon awards and 6 European Golden Shoe awards. He is the only player to win the European Golden Shoe award with a total of 100 points. He is also the all-time top scorer of La Liga with 444 goals. These are just a fraction of honours entitles to him.
“Messi credits his grandmother, Celia, for influencing and encouraging him to play football. She used to accompany him to training sessions and matches. She died before his 11th birthday and since then Messi celebrates his every goal by looking up and pointing to the sky, paying tribute to his grandmother.”
The Release Clause Controversy
As many of you might know by now, the point of controversy is not the fact whether Messi wants to leave; instead it is about the willingness of the club. Messi’s contract has got a release clause of 700 million Euros, which narrows down the list of potential buyers to a handful of clubs. Of course, here we are talking about the money that the buyer-club will provide to Barcelona, not directly to player. Although, there is another clause that states that Messi can leave the club, if he wants, for free at the end of every season. The 700 million Euros clause is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle in the path of Messi if he really wants to leave. Of course, one can argue that Messi can use the other clause and set his course out of Barca as a free transfer, but, and it’s a big but, the normal timing for any season’s end is around June. And as we know, the pandemic has delayed the season which the Barca can use as an excuse to stop Messi from leaving.
Who can Afford Messi?
But let us assume the club, on the account of services that Messi has provided in so many years, allows Messi to leave, which clubs have an economic standing to even consider such a highly paid player? I mean he earns almost a million pounds a week, that’s his basic salary, gains 9 million pounds every year from image rights, 13 million pounds from bonuses another 25 million pounds from royalty and side bonuses! There are, as you can imagine, not a lot of clubs who can afford that. PSG and Manchester City are the only possible destinations where fans can see Messi land for the next season, at least from an economical point of view. Manchester City president earlier stated that they buy players aged 20-25, but they are more than willing to make an exception for Messi. As for PSG, with the arrival of Qatar investment in 2011, the French side was constructed with one goal – to win the Champions League. For that matter, the club has already signed many stars, for example, Neymar & Mbappe; adding Messi for a lot of money will not be a problem for them. You see, Manchester City and PSG are only two clubs in the world owned by a state itself. Both teams are owned by Qatar.
Messi might also look for options in smaller leagues outside Europe, for example U.S. or Middle East, as many players do during the last phase of their careers. But considering the health condition and form he currently enjoys, one can easily say Messi still has a lot to offer. Therefore, unless Messi himself wants to leave the top tier, move outside the Europe is not likely to happen. If we add the upcoming presidential elections of the club to this scenario, a completely near perspective emerges. The elections are due to happen in 2021. Xavi has already stated that he will return to Camp Nou after the elections, and many presume that might force Messi to rethink his departure. No matter what, club will not let him leave readily.
Wherever he goes, Messi is sure to experience the same love and affection from the fans. There are a lot of Ifs and Buts; the only thing we can say with surety is that Messi will remain in headlines for a while.
Written by: Skand Prateek Kaushik
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2 Comments
That looks like a pretty well researched article, well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you😇😇
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