Steer clear of Catalan chaos
CITY AVOID A MESS
IT WAS a battle even the great Lionel Messi was never going to win.
In the power struggle between the Argentine superstar and Barcelona, the Catalan giants held all the aces as the worst-kept secret in football was confirmed – Messi is unsellable.
A release clause of £650million, combined with current wages of £1m a week, make Messi untouchable when it comes to being lured from the Nou Camp and the place he now calls home.
Not that this seemed to bother Manchester City who appeared to be at the front of the queue when it seemed like, for a brief moment at least, Messi would be available.
It has been a long-held dream of City owner Sheikh Mansour (below) to see Messi strutting his stuff in Manchester. A reunion with Pep Guardiola would have been quite a story.
But the fairytale was just that, a fictional notion of romance that was good while it lasted.
Mansour will be disappointed no doubt. The billionaire is used to getting what he wants but even in football there are some things money simply cannot buy.
The sighs of disappointment will be audible from Abu Dhabi – but they should be ones of relief and not disappointment.
Messi might be blessed by the footballing gods and is arguably the greatest player in history but his talent would have come at a staggering cost considering he is now 33.
In the mind of Sheikh Mansour, luring Messi to The
Etihad would have been the ultimate coup. It would have elevated City to another level, helped them win the Champions League and may have persuaded Guardiola to sign a new contract extension.
But landing Messi would also have been the ultimate vanity signing, because he is now past his best and seems to have the current workrate of my teenage son, who huffs and puffs when he’s asked to stick the kettle on. The all-time Barca top scorer proved this during his side’s humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Seeing the great man grace English football would still be a privilege for supporters of all top-flight t eams, but what would it have done to the progress of someone l i ke
Phil Foden?
The England midfielder, 20, is ready to take a step up instead of back after the exit of icon David Silva.
To a club like City,
Messi is no longer the future, Foden is.
Yet if Sheikh Mansour remains determined to lavish more of his billions on making a statement signing, why doesn’t he sanction a deal to get Gareth Bale out of Real Madrid instead?
Bale has just turned 31 and is much cheaper than Messi, but like his La Liga rival still knows what it takes to win the Champions League. Messi would have enabled City to sell more shirts but where’s the value in this to a club with fortunes? If City want to get more bang for their buck, then Bale is the best bet.