Pretty much this.. Messi is likely to cost far more than 100m. Ah sure they are signing Bale and Ronaldo, why not Messi too. Oh wait, they are signing Barca's OAP keeper instead, my mistake
The only way we would sign Messi is if Adidas, as has been mooted, help fund the deal in a way to stick one up to Nike. Given the choice of Premier League teams I only see us and City being a destination for him due to the playing personnel already there. Messi is best pals with Fabregas for crying out loud and people who say he is past his best, if past his best is scoring 40 plus golas a year then who isn't past their best. As for fitting him in, isn't that what Jose Mourinho does best.
Forgetting FFP, whether we could sign him etc, do you think Messi needs to test himself somewhere else to be considered a true great? Lets be honest, he's unlikely to ever win the world cup so that will go against him when looking a ZZ, Pele, Maradona and Schurlle . However least Ronaldo has won titles and European Cups in 2 different leagues now and has shown he can cut it in the physical P.L compared to the more cultured La Liga. He also obviously played in the Portuguese league as well. I kind of feel staying at Barca is the easy option but he should test himself. Credit to Pep in that regard (albeit he jumped to the current best ship when doing so!). Forget the 2 bob French league but maybe Germany or England.
I heard that exact same logic from the mancs when they thought they were signing Ronaldo by Nike funding it. Not sure if Adidias would be allowed "help" fund the move, surely that's circumventing FFP? After all the talk of City and Lamps, surely your high moral standards would be assaulted by such a move? Adidas funding it would be no different than RA funding it, either way it's not money the club earned.
Are you for real? Ronaldo has won CLs with United(thanks to Terry's slip) and Real, Messi has won the D'or 3 or 4 years running, and has a few more to boot. Ronaldo has only become the best in the past two years and towards the end of his career and it took a dip in Messi's form for Ronaldo to become the best. What has Ronaldo done with Portugal? Messi is a all time great even if he retires tomorrow, your skewed logic on how he will not be a great is he already IS A GREAT! Testing himself? You say Argentina will never win the world cup, and ignore that portugal will never win at the same time as putting Ronaldo up as a great, all because he won a CL(luckily) with United.? in short, Messi doesn't have to prove anything to anyone and can stop playing tomorrow and be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. "Done nothing with Argentina" who are you, UIR? international football is a team sport, being in a team that doesn't hit the heights in competitions full of tired players from long seasons has no bearing on the quality of said players.
To be fair to Ronaldo he has upped his game in the past 2 seasons. Since Ancelotti has joined Ronaldo has improved a lot. Messi's form has dipped but that isn't the only reason he won them. A scouser talking about winning a CL through luck I've heard it all now! It was a penalty shoot out afterall, so anything can happen. Let's not ignore the fact that we where the best side throughout that whole CL campaign, most goals scored, least goals conceded and unbeaten home and away. Ronaldo was also the top goalscorer. We backed up our superiority over Chelsea with the PL title aswell, with Ronaldo getting a record equaling 31 league goals. The best team won that final, you can't argue with that. Its hardly like Barca have not been lucky in the CL, with the referee at Stamford Bridge in the semi final, and then they got a dodgy referee in the Bernabau for another semi when Madrid where wrongly down to 10 men, after a Barca player dived to get Pepe sent off. Football is often a sport that comes down to abit of good fortune here or there.
Ronaldo is for the first time the undisputed best player in the world, and he is on fire this season again. Not disputing that, and Ronaldo is also already a great, even if he retired tomorrow. As for a manc talking about dodgy referees You'd know yeah, especially about dodgy penos. Yes yes you did well in that CL campaign, but it all boiled down to Terry slipping and hitting the post, if you were that good you would not have needed that and prior to that final you mancs we're all "winning the CL on penos is not that great" after 2005 but it was magic in 2008 How things change eh Ronaldo and Messi are the two great players of this generation, normally there would be more than two in a generation, says a lot for the rise in the level of football as a team sport really rather than great individuals because now most players can be shackled with tactics that never really existed in times past. It goes to show how good Messi and Ronaldo really are in fact, that they can score so many in the modern game year in year out. Talking nothing away from your CL win that year, just pointing out that it's not really useful as a reason to say Ronaldo is better than Messi overall. Besides they are very different from each other as players too.
They are certainly the 2 best players I have ever seen play. Both have there own strengths, but I personally prefer Ronaldo, as he doesn't really have a weak area of his game.
If for around 75 mil it would be worth it, when the number is silly like 140m 150m or more it just is not worth it at all. it's about time they started capping these transfer fees, it's getting ridiculous. Is Messi's release clause actually 200m?
I agree Ronaldo has done little with Portugal either but the point I was making is that when looking at the greats of all time not just in a generation, the first thing they are measured by is Pele's brilliant world cup record and Maradona 86. Neither Messi or Ronaldo are likely to have this in their locker but Ronaldo at least has the fact he won the 2 biggest honours in 2 completely different leagues. Therefore some people will say he showed greater diversity as a player. That's not to say neither or both will or wont be considered greats but facts are facts. Personally if Messi retired tomorrow he still wont be seen as a great like Maradona. Maradona won a world cup with a weaker Argentina side than Messi has played for. Overall I guess I'm saying there's nothing more for Messi to do at Barca. Go to another club and another league and still rip it up and it will further solidify his reputation.
To hold a players performance in a tournament once every 4 years against him is a little harsh IMO. Is international football even that big a deal in the modern era anyways? The Champions League is of a higher standard than the World Cup anyways. I think the whole international argument though is more relevant to Messi than Ronaldo. As Messi has played with better players than Ronaldo, yet hasn't performed as well as Ronaldo has in competitive matches. Messi was a massive flop in the WC, despite his good form against Bosnia, Nigeria and the mighty Iran. In every knockout game however he was non existent, and did very little. Ronaldo has never had any other world class players to play with at International level. The closest he got was Luis Figo who was a world class player in his prime, but was a shadow of his former self when he and Ronaldo played together. Ronaldo was also just a teenager, so was nowhere near his prime him self. I'm sure if both had played together at there peaks Portugal would have been a force in World Cups. You have to feel for Ronaldo when he is expected to perform in WCs with the likes of Nani and Helda Postiga lining up alongside him in attack. Ronald's international record really isn't that bad when you take into account the team mates he had. Messi however should really have performed better, as he's always had world class team mates in attack with him. The likes of Aguero, Di Maria and Tevez are quality players, among others. I feel though players should be judged more for there performances in club football, and both Messi and Ronaldo have superior records to Maradona and Pele who spent most of his days banging goals past part time plumbers. The best players can rise to the top in club football, where as in international football you can't. Think of players like George Best, Ryan Giggs and most recent Gareth Bale. Should the fact they could never play at a WC be held against them?
Maybe it is harsh but it does seem to be a yard stick used often to compare the very very best players across eras. I guess it's the most consistent barometer. The European Cup hasn't always been a top line tournament and teams didn't always even enter it (including Chelsea having won the league in 55). The fact Real were able to win 5 on the bounce shows it wasn't the tournament it is now. The world cup is the biggest stage in football no question and players who perform well in world cups will generally be held in higher regard than those that don't. So in short, if you wan't to be known as a true great, be born in the 7-8 countries who can win the world cup!!
Maradona had to cheat his way to the 86 world cup. I think England would have done them without his handball. I also think the greater fitness of today's players would lessen the impact of a stand alone great lpayer like Maradona. Today he would need better players around him to shine (like Messi/Ronaldo) and not be able to jog past defenders.
If Messi does move to the Bridge, he'll have to sharpen up on his diving. All joking aside, I'd love to see him in the Prem, even if that does mean him moving to either Chelsea or £ity (no way could any other team afford him or his wages). That said, it does look as though he is being used as a pawn in a political power-player to get rid of the current Barca president and others. I have little doubt that there is some truth in the "Chelsea link," but I suspect it is nothing more than a cynical manipulation of the media by the Barca mandarins.
