Lionel Messi

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Zehner

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No balls at all to test his ability elsewhere.

I was super excited to finally see him in EPL but I should of known he was never going to leave the comfort zone o Barca.

Nothing changed so staying makes no sense. His excuse of not taking them to court makes no sense either.
You've got to be positive in life. If he stays, you don't have to think of new straw man arguments. I'm sure going the lengths you go to discredit him is quite exhausting - he saves you some stamina if he stays. This isn't dead yet.
 

MackRobinson

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No balls at all to test his ability elsewhere.

I was super excited to finally see him in EPL but I should of known he was never going to leave the comfort zone o Barca.

Nothing changed so staying makes no sense. His excuse of not taking them to court makes no sense either.
Your agenda is so transparent haha
 

UncleBob

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In return they got one of the greatest players ever to play the game off whose name they have made 100's of millions, pretty sure those would have helped pay for whatever cost it was Barcelona paid for his surgery and other expenses, the fans are quite rightly pissed off, messi has had his prime wasted by mediocre coaching and transfer decisions. What was the point of signing a player for 100mn when his best position is the same as the position of your best player. The barca board has made decisions that make woodward and co look competent in comparison.

What happened between Utd and Beckham is not the same as what is happening between Barca and Messi. They aren't even picking between a club or a player, its the player and a politician. If asked to choose between Sir Alex and Beckham, there aren't many utd fans who will chose Beckham as good as he was. How many do you think given the choice between Messi and Bartomeu will choose Bartomeu.
His prime wasted :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Jesus fecking christ, he has played for a team that has completely dominated the feck out of Spain, he's got 10 league titles, 4 CL titles, 6 copa del reys and he's won the ballon d'or 6 fecking times, not to mention the fact that he's one of the best paid players in the world. Has any team won as many big trophies in the same period of time (Apart from the one team leagues that are Germany and France).

And somehow his prime has been wasted.

fecking mint that.
 

Shark

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No balls at all to test his ability elsewhere.

I was super excited to finally see him in EPL but I should of known he was never going to leave the comfort zone o Barca.

Nothing changed so staying makes no sense. His excuse of not taking them to court makes no sense either.
Is Barcelona even a comfort zone anymore? He's surrounded by a team in vast decline and still did the business for them for the most part of the season. City would be more of a comfort zone surely.
 

Fortitude

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Imagine being all settled in the idyllic backdrop of a Catalan mansion and then being told there's a plan to get you all off to Manchester/England. No wonder there were tears in the Messi household!
 

amolbhatia50k

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No balls at all to test his ability elsewhere.

I was super excited to finally see him in EPL but I should of known he was never going to leave the comfort zone o Barca.

Nothing changed so staying makes no sense. His excuse of not taking them to court makes no sense either.
:lol:
 

prateik

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Colossal attention whore.
If he wanted to leave all season, why didnt he inform the club before the deadline?

Has done the same before.. more than once.. even with his national side.
 

edcunited1878

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If Messi really wanted to leave, he'd hand in a transfer request and just not play. But he's going back and forth just like he did with Argentina when emotions ran high and he just did whatever he liked. But at the end of the day, his loyalty and love goes to the club...and not the board, which makes sense.

It'd be interesting if he leaves, then tries to go back to Barca as Club President or something like that. Seems like he just wants to be Barca for life, but probably not in a manager position.

Messi and the club allowed themselves to make a player bigger than the club and then pit the player against the board....just insane. Just think once Messi leaves the club as a player, they should be able to have less drama between players and board or just players ruling the roost so to speak. Thankfully for Barca, La Liga cannot afford Barca to languish and La Liga just doesn't have teams to threaten their CL spots.

Would love nothing more to see Barca suffer as a club and just get lost at sea post-Messi. They need a massive overhaul and an entire identity change.
 

Mindhunter

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Colossal attention whore.
If he wanted to leave all season, why didnt he inform the club before the deadline?

Has done the same before.. more than once.. even with his national side.
Maybe because he didn't want to draw attention to this in the middle of a season and jeopardize his own mental state along with the rest of the players? Imagine what would have happened had Messi dropped a transfer request in the middle of the La Liga season.

He took the president on his word and believed that he would always have the option to decide at the end of the season - with or without covid. They got him on a technicality since the season got extended.
 

clarkydaz

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Colossal attention whore.
If he wanted to leave all season, why didnt he inform the club before the deadline?

Has done the same before.. more than once.. even with his national side.
He said he did tell him all season, and the president changed his word
 

Ish

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If Messi really wanted to leave, he'd hand in a transfer request and just not play. But he's going back and forth just like he did with Argentina when emotions ran high and he just did whatever he liked. But at the end of the day, his loyalty and love goes to the club...and not the board, which makes sense.

It'd be interesting if he leaves, then tries to go back to Barca as Club President or something like that. Seems like he just wants to be Barca for life, but probably not in a manager position.

Messi and the club allowed themselves to make a player bigger than the club and then pit the player against the board....just insane. Just think once Messi leaves the club as a player, they should be able to have less drama between players and board or just players ruling the roost so to speak. Thankfully for Barca, La Liga cannot afford Barca to languish and La Liga just doesn't have teams to threaten their CL spots.

Would love nothing more to see Barca suffer as a club and just get lost at sea post-Messi. They need a massive overhaul and an entire identity change.
But he did hand in a transfer request?
 

Zen86

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I’m guessing this was all to try and force the board to step down. I’m actually quite surprised they haven’t been forced out considering the mess they’ve made of the club.
 

ivaldo

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So, he and his agent relentlessly went after new contracts, making him by far the highest paid player in the world, and now thinks he can just leave for free whenever he likes? Didn't seem to have an issue committing to all those extensions before.
 

clarkydaz

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I’m guessing this was all to try and force the board to step down. I’m actually quite surprised they haven’t been forced out considering the mess they’ve made of the club.
if they would accept a fee for him Messi would be gone
 

starman

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Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to join Real Madrid appeared stronger than ever last night after a television interview in which he reiterated he had not changed his mind about wanting to leave Manchester United and agreed with the Fifa president Sepp Blatter's criticism about the way the European Cup winners had handled the situation. Blatter had urged United to allow the player to leave and, more controversially, complained that there was "too much modern slavery" in the sport.

Blatter, an honorary member of Real Madrid with close ties to the club's president, Ramón Calderón, had described himself as "very much in sympathy" with Ronaldo and urged United to allow him to leave, suggesting it was otherwise tantamount to slavery. "I agree with what he said," said Ronaldo, when that last point was put to him. "It's true. I agree with what the president of Fifa said. I know what I want and what I would like. We have to see what happens. I do not know where I will begin next season."
Crazy how slavery still exists 12 years on....:nono:
 

Zen

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Damn what a turnaround. I wish I had stuck some serious moolah on Messi remaining at Barca before the end of this transfer window. I am sure that was some pretty good odds.
Nope - mostly odds on. It was always the highly likely outcome.
 

Ish

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Reading the last few pages... Mind boggling
It’s been sold as a “win win” for him but it sounds more like a lose-lose in fairness.

Leaves to city: abandoning a sinking ship, going to oil money, chooses the easy option! (Why not stoke!!!)

Stays at Barca: comfort zone, coward, was never leaving, controls transfers!
 

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The anti-Messi brigade is pathetic. Comical arguments.

Messi should have paid the 700M to prove himself to them in another league.What a quitter! He should have done like Ronaldo. Try and achieve the hardest feat in the world of football: Juventus winning Scudetto. Talk about a real challenge!

He should also stop getting the ball a lot to prove that he can give more assists without having the ball, as a genius cafite suggested earlier.

Tsk Tsk, Leo.
 

tomaldinho1

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I'm almost certain this was orchestrated from the off to essentially guarantee Font his seat & allow for a clear out
 

Bastian

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I’m guessing this was all to try and force the board to step down. I’m actually quite surprised they haven’t been forced out considering the mess they’ve made of the club.
Forcing the board to step down isn't going to magically alter their finances. It's about spending the last few years of his career at a club that has a very realistic chance of winning the CL. Barca have been terribly mismanaged over the last few years and it's very hard to see how they can rebuild quick enough given his age.

Shame he won't leave as that would have been interesting. Now they've got a rebuild on their hands under a relatively underwhelming manager, with public acrimony between their star player and the board. All their dirty laundry out in the open, and increased pressure with the scrutiny this drama has exacerbated.
 

prateik

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Maybe because he didn't want to draw attention to this in the middle of a season and jeopardize his own mental state along with the rest of the players? Imagine what would have happened had Messi dropped a transfer request in the middle of the La Liga season.

He took the president on his word and believed that he would always have the option to decide at the end of the season - with or without covid. They got him on a technicality since the season got extended.
He said he did tell him all season, and the president changed his word
If his contract had a deadline and he wanted to go, he knew he had to make the request earlier. It didnt have to be public. If the President agreed to let him go at the end of the season, it would have been more than a word of mouth.. Something legally binding

No one is that naive.

He can spin it as much as he wants. He knew he didnt have a case.. He just loves the attention. Some fecking power trip .

Like I said.. he has previous.
 
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No balls at all to test his ability elsewhere.

I was super excited to finally see him in EPL but I should of known he was never going to leave the comfort zone o Barca.

Nothing changed so staying makes no sense. His excuse of not taking them to court makes no sense either.
It makes absolute sense. What if he loses? He’s also not going to be able to get such a decision done to leave before the transfer deadline, and therefore may not be able to play for anyone next season.

It’s clear he wanted to leave, why would you even question that?
 

Daysleeper

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Of course he wanted to leave for free.

If city have to pay a fee, which perhaps might be in the region of £100m the deal doesn’t make sense, especially if they can sign him next season.
madrid paid a fee of 100M for hazard and be only had a year left. City would absolutely pay a fee, just not 700M. He did not want to leave for free.
 

Rolaholic

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Yeah, beyond daft. Could have "reluctantly" sold him for 200m or something crazy to City, and started a proper rebuild.
Exactly but they've instead decided to create as toxic and environment around the team as you could get heading into the season. Their brand new manager is effectively a lameduck

Effectively proving how terribly they've been ran in recent years
 

edcunited1878

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If his contract had a deadline and he wanted to go, he knew he had to make the request earlier. It didnt have to be public. If the President agreed to let him go at the end of the season, it would have been more than a word of mouth.. Something legally binding

No one is that naive.

He can spin it as much as he wants. He knew he didnt have a case.. He just loves the attention. Some fecking power trip .

Like I said.. he has previous.
The contract deadline is just an empty plea for sympathy. All deadlines and contracts for players went out the window. That's why there was a lot of contract adjustments and extensions because the season wasn't over. Did Messi not play until the season was over? Season is over after the last game, not the intended date of completion.

It's him trying to do it his way again and do what he wants whenever he wants and how he wants. To hell with everyone else, especially the board. And it's not as if he hasn't survived and witnessed and experienced many other board members and board elections. So he knows the politicking and shit that goes on.

Everyone is to blame here and nobody should be coming out looking better than the other. It's a complete garbage fire at Barca, kind of has been for a couple of years, and personally..."You Love to See It"
 

Bastian

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Exactly but they've instead decided to create as toxic and environment around the team as you could get heading into the season. Their brand new manager is effectively a lameduck

Effectively proving how terribly they've been ran in recent years
Yeah. I wonder how they would respond if City were to drop in a 200m offer.
 
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madrid paid a fee of 100M for hazard and be only had a year left. City would absolutely pay a fee, just not 700M. He did not want to leave for free.
Your argument is ridiculous. He’s stated he wanted to leave, he had a clause to leave for free.

Why do you think he would want city to pay a fee for him, when they didn’t need to if the clause was activated?

There’s a massive difference between the costs of Hazard and Messi, and you know that.
 

RedDevil@84

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My manager always says "Finish just this task and then you are free to take all your leaves in one go if you want". Both of us know its a lie.
 

clarkydaz

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If his contract had a deadline and he wanted to go, he knew he had to make the request earlier. It didnt have to be public. If the President agreed to let him go at the end of the season, it would have been more than a word of mouth.. Something legally binding

No one is that naive.

He can spin it as much as he wants. He knew he didnt have a case.. He just loves the attention. Some fecking power trip .
You mean like a contract saying so?
 

Daysleeper

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A lot of people especially Barca fans making Barca out to be the villain and Messi an angel, not forgetting that this was the club that gave Messi a life, an opportunity and made him who he is today. When he was 10 and diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, no club took a chance on him except Barca. It was Barca who paid for his treatment and gave him a chance and of course the rest is history.

I'm starting to think that a lot of these Barca fans in meltdown who are supporting Messi over Barca are not actually Barcelona fans but Messi fans. No player should be bigger than a club no matter how great he is. David Beckham is probably the most iconic footballer in Man Utd history and he was the main reason why I became a fan of Man Utd. When he left us in 2003 for Real Madrid, I was devastated. The next day the first thing in the morning in school, my mates were all coming to me and saying to me "Beckham left so I guess you are going to be a Real Madrid fan now." I actually questioned myself and then came to the conclusion that I might really be a fan of Beckham and not Man Utd. After all, I became a fan of the club through Beckham but I can't really bring myself to support Real Madrid and even though I follow his career closely at Real Madrid in his first season, there was no way in hell I'd be a Real Madrid fan so I ended up losing interest in his second season and came to the conclusion that the club should always be bigger than the player anytime.
With all due respect, you sound like someone who doesn't follow the club in recent years and that's cool, but this board is so insanely toxic. They literally hired a social media team to trash their own players, the president is on corruption charges as we speak, and now they're forcing a player to stay and he will just leave for free. Messi's situation is very unique as no huge player in recent times had to deal with such an incompetent self sabotaging board as this one. That's why Barca fans aren't mad at Messi. Read his interview from today. Even Xavi won't near this board nor will Puyol (who actually applauded Messi wanting to leave) Think about how effed up the board is for it to come to this. Messi may not always be an angel, but he was in the right on this one.
 
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