I think when you've broken all records at your boyhood club and been at it for 21 years, you can join who the hell you want to without being labelled a mercenary. Also he gets a decent shot at the CL, something the Barcelona havn't been able to do for while. At his age it's a wise choice.
Lionel Messi | PSG Watch
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
I too would have loved to see the best player ever in the Premier league even as a United fan. But I understand his decision. Its the best place for him to be at 34 playing in an easy league for a team that's still champions league favorites. Getting paid millions. His friends are there. Most of the players can speak Spanish. Nice city etc. Ive seen that certain standards are held to only Messi. You don't hear people argue about Xavi being the greatest midfielder of his generation despite doing it in only one league but Messi isn't because he did it only in Spain. You also don't hear people talk about how Ramos has tarnished his legacy for joining Psg but Messi has
Considering the goals will be split between him, Neymar and Mpabbe, I think he'll get something like 30-35 goals and 20-25 assists.
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Xavi also did it in the Qatari league.
It’s the French league, nobody cares if he scores 100 goals.
That's the thing as well.. did the signings of Neymar and Mbappe really do anything for the league? Besides making it even more one sided (bottling aside), most people that started watching are only watching PSG. I don't think the other teams got better or raised their profile.
He is at the top of his game. If he went to the dutch league or bundesliga for any team not called Bayern Munich, everyone would think he'd gone nuts.
I like the idea that Messi hasn't gone for money. First asking for a contract from Barca that would have bankrupt them and then agreeing over a million a week with PSG but it's really all about the football and not about a contract only two clubs in the world could afford.
Well it's not a short term thing, elevating a league image can only have an impact over time with people being more familiar with clubs and watching them on a more regular basis which may lead to higher TV deals in 5 or 10 years. It needs to start somewhere and PSG contribute to that.
He's not at the top of his game. It's just his lower ceiling still makes him a contender for the best in the world while in his prime there was no contest(apart from Ronaldo). He's only going to decline just like most players his age. As good as Ronaldo has been at putting up numbers his overall ability is a shadow what it was in his prime.
He literally couldn't have stayed at Barca even if he played for free. It's been established several times now. And yes at PSG he gets money galore, gets to play with some old mates and gets to a good shot at the CL. And gets to live in Paris. It's a good decision at his age. If he was 28 it might be different.
People acting like he's moving to Psg at 24 not 34. Its simple logic that players at this point look for a retirement home and not the challenge that you're expecting a 6 time ballon dor winner to take on.
Really? Can you summarise?
Of course some people are not going to care. Who cares about those people :-)
I’d expect him to get more assists if anything.
and what better way to prove that than playing in the farmers league? Makes no sense to me. If it's Ronaldo they want to best then most of Ronaldo's fans are premier league based. He should have gone there.
It's money.
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Who has established this? I've heard this a few times but it makes no sense the metrics they use.
Its not as if Ronaldo asked for higher contractual demands in 2018 which Madrid deemed as not realistic before leaving to Juventus. At Juventus he’s earning 10 milion more annually then his last year at Madrid. (Point of this argument is that star players cost more money).
also, Messi transcends football in a way. His status in football is legendary with records that will highly likely never be broken again.
If there was ever a footballer who would break the ‘salary’ record a week it was always going to be Messi. There are reports and estimates that he brought in rougly 30% of Barcelona’s total revenue.
It’s also how sports operate these day. The more popular you are the more seats you attract, the more popular you are the more merchandise you are able to sell, the more popular you are, the PPV’s you sell. These are all attributes to an athlete’s commercial value and hence leverage for higher contracts and pay days.
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I don't think there is data that backs this. If Messi took a pay cut, no doubt Barca would have cut some other signings and signed Messi on.
It was greed. He's joining a farmers league -- a one team league -- for nothing but greed.
He made the easy decision.
Ronaldo took the harder option going to a competitive league. Greater respect to Ronaldo for that.
Ronaldo took the harder option going to a competitive league. Greater respect to Ronaldo for that.
No he's not legally allowed to take more than a 50% wage cut which he agreed to, but even so Barca's wagebill would be too high compared to their revenue to be able to register him. Essentially there is no loophole for him to continue to play for barcelona.
Ronaldo's pr is brilliant
It grates how many times this has to be stated.
As if any player can go to upper management and use anything to do with Messi as a reference point for their own negotiations.
Until somebody in a team Messi is in outperforms him, or even comes close, it's one of the daftest lines of thinking I see posted in relation to Messi/Barcelona.
Barcelona are over the wage bill limit of 70% and currently can't register new players.
Those tears didn't last long. 
Oh and feck PSG!
Oh and feck PSG!
Yeah, right, going to a competitive league where Juve won 8 titles in a row prior to his arrival, such a competitive league..
Continuing with funny posts I see. Cheers.
He'd be slaughtered if he went to France 2 years ago
Thank you both
Honestly, seeing him sign for PSG makes my blood boil. I'd be fine with literally any other club.
I'm pretty sure the deal was already going on/completed in the back end before any information got released to the public.
Would've been awkward for Messi to say he's leaving the club without him exactly knowing where he's going to end up next. In fact that was the major question I had in mind before this announcement.
Sure, competitive league in which Juventus won the title 7 years in a row prior to him coming.
I agree that money has a lot to do with it, of course it does...that's why he ultimately had to leave and reverse course with Barca. Wasn't exactly his fault, but yes. Money is always involved.
But Messi has earned that right to go where he wants. Is it a bit disappointing he goes to a farmers league, yeah. He goes to a one team league whose real only competitor is themselves. But the league is secondary, it's all about the CL. PSG doesn't have to worry about qualifying for a CL spot because it's a formality they will get a CL spot at minimum. Should be able to navigate their way through the group stage and give themselves a strong opportunity in the knockout stages regardless of opponent until they actually have to face a top European team.
Messi going to the PL for example, is dangerous for his image. But yet he probably could only go to one of 3 teams in the PL (City, Chelsea, United) as they are the only one's who can actually afford him. But he doesn't want to move his family to a country they are completely apathetic to.
He wouldn't because he has nothing to prove He's done it in England Spain and for Portugal. Messi is only getting backlash because people want to see him in another relevant league since it has been a question mark of how he will perform in another relevant league. Nobody is slaughtering Ramos for going to Psg because nobody has ever cared to ask if Ramos can perform in another tough league
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He was flirting with PSG before Covid hit.
Correct.
Imagine a top 25 UFC fighter demanding Conor Mcgregor pay days when that fighter brings in a 1000 ppv’s only in stead of milions. The commercial value of any athlete dictates the leverage in negotiations. Tangible criteria are assessed such as PPV’ numbers, social media traffick, sponsor deals etc (criteria differ depending on the sport).
It’s unfortunate that people during discussions like these are not aware of these factors in order to objectively try form conclusions.
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Funny to think the accumulated transfer fee of arguably the greatest player in history is 0.
You must be ecstatic