“How did you get on in your last job Lionel? says the chairman of an unknown club. “Well, I scored 672 goals, won 10 La Liga titles and the Champions League medals?’ “OK we’ll give you a try then, sign here.”
Lionel Messi’s days at Barcelona appear to be over. No agreement on his reduced salary could be reached so the Argentinian is off to pastures anew. Just who will be signing the 34-year-old? Messi has scored at least 30 goals in each of the last 13 seasons but finally he’s going to leave Barcelona and it’s PSG who are the favourites to sign him.
PSG have an Argentinian manager so that’s one tick in the box for them. They also have Neymar who Messi played alongside at Barcelona. PSG didn’t win Ligue 1 last season and could see Messi as the player who could finally win them the Champions League. With Mbappe also a star striker, it may be that he has to go (most likely to Real Madrid) for PSG to not fall foul of Financial Fair Play rules. You can get odds of 10/11 at Betfred on Messi moving to Paris.
Imagine the situation at Manchester City. You’ve just spent £100 million on Jack Grealish and are hoping to sign Harry Kane. Then the news breaks that actually Lionel Messi isn’t staying at Barcelona and is on the transfer market. What do City do now? Pep Guardiola used to manage Messi at Barcelona so knows all about the Argentinian international. With Tottenham asking the earth for Kane, do they switch their target and try to sign Messi for what resembles a Fantasy Football team? It’s 5/2 at Betfair that Messi finally plays in the Premier League.
Could Messi decide to move to America and play in the MLS? It’s 11/1 at Paddy Power that’s what he does. It seems unlikely though, Messi more than likely wants to stay in Europe and again play in the Champions League.
Perhaps he could join the current Champions League champions? Chelsea are on the look for a mega-signing and an offer can’t be ruled out. The much younger Erling Haaland or the return of Romelu Lukaku look better prospects though. Betfred will give you odds of 20/1 on Messi going to Stamford Bridge. Manchester United have already spent over £100 million in this transfer window so a bid for Messi is unlikely. Paddy Power have odds of 18/1 if you think otherwise.
How about Juventus signing the Argentinian? How about Messi and Ronaldo in the same team, now that would be something to see. It’s 20/1 at Sky Bet that it’s Juventus who end up signing Messi. Other contenders include Newells Old Boys (20/1 at Betfair) if Messi fancies seeing out his playing days back home in Argentina. He only scored 500 goals for their youth team before heading to Spain. A move to France and PSG looks the answer to where Messi will go next as he looks for more challenges and titles.
