Why Financial Fair Play is skewed in favour of clubs like United

The funny thing is, some folk still wonder if Manchester United will get back to the top. It’s when. Not if. It is an absolute inevitability. And not long-term, either. Next season, maybe. If not, the year after.

Louis van Gaal will bring the title to Old Trafford. That is what modern football demands, that is what the rules dictate. Uefa decided several years ago that they wanted football to remain exactly as it was that day, and introduced regulation to facilitate a natural order. They called it Financial Fair Play.

And as on that day Manchester United were the biggest club in England, that is how they shall remain.

So, now, if Lionel Messi is available there is one club that can buy him. Not afford him, mark you. Manchester City, Chelsea and a number of others could afford him if their owners were allowed to invest speculatively in their business.

Roman Abramovich or Sheik Mansour might calculate that acquiring Messi would be a catalyst for the next stage of development; not just in what he might bring as a footballer, but in the global statement such a move would make. They might decide that, despite the astronomical cost, the end would justify the means if what it gave Manchester City or Chelsea was a rapidly expanded fanbase and increased marketing potential.

But then a man in a suit would step in and say no, or impose a punitive fine or, worse, a ban from major competition. This leaves one club with the potential to make Messi’s numbers add up.

It is unlikely Messi will arrive at Old Trafford, either way. Much of what is being said in Barcelona appears to be a power play, or contractual brinkmanship. Messi rails against false speculation one moment, and then uses the platform of the Ballon d’Or to announce that he does not know where he will be next season.

All is not well with Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, apparently, and Messi wants an improved deal. The clever money says that he will get what he wants on both counts.

If not Messi for United then, what of Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale? Actually, the names are incidental. The bottom line is that there are some calculations that are beyond all bar one club.

Even by bringing in Angel di Maria, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera and Radamel Falcao on loan in one window, Manchester United demonstrated a financial capability that outstripped all rivals, particularly having failed to qualify for the Champions League.

No other club could take a hit of £50million, as United did, and continue investing in this way. Obviously, United need Champions League football from here to finance any grand plan, yet the mathematics of the Messi deal bring home the lopsided logic of FFP, effectively delivering the hope of success to a privileged few.

Southampton – incredible interlopers this season – should be able to cement their position, or at least build on it, with ambitious transfer dealing in the Jan- uary transfer window.

While Uefa would closely monitor this new investment, however, Manchester United – and United alone – could plan a bid for Messi that might top £275m, including a £195m buyout clause. So what chance do Southampton have, long-term?

That 1-0 win last Sunday? Means nothing. Dropping down to fourth place? A tiny bump in the road for United. We are not witnessing the beginning of the wilderness years because Uefa will not allow it. The worst that can happen is a temporary delay on the road back to the top. Manchester United can never be mediocre again. It is unthinkable they will ever go 26 years between titles, as happened from 1967 to 1993.

Manchester City are out of the running for players like Messi, and they know it. Their accounts are already under extreme scrutiny from Uefa and the purchase of Wilfried Bony from Swansea City is as close as they can manage to a spree.

There is also much talk about Chelsea and Messi but that is moot, too. A frosty relationship with manager Jose Mourinho is said to have thawed, but who cares? Mourinho knows the reality. The club accountant will have the final say on Messi, not him.

Asked about the deal last month, Mourinho said: “I have no chance of that with Messi. At this moment there is Financial Fair Play and we have to follow certain rules,”

If Van Gaal is as good a coach as his record suggests, this, coupled with Manchester United’s financial supremacy only has one outcome, with or without Messi. – Daily Mail