Lionel Messi may currently be injured and battling to be fit for the first El Clasico of the season next month, but as always he is never too far from the headlines. With his life off the pitch seemingly dominated by a tax evasion case involving his father, the stories he is considering his future at Barcelona will not go away.
Whether there is any truth to these rumours remains to be seen, but what is certain is that there are only a select few clubs in the world who could realistically afford the Argentine. Any transfer involving Messi would not only command a world-record fee to release him from the clause written into his contract, factor in his wages and associated image rights would push the total cost of signing him through the roof.
Both Manchester clubs would be able to underwrite the huge losses needed to capture him, and the ambitious owners of Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain will surely be interested in making the ultimate transfer statement. Real Madrid will of course never be an option, with Luis Figo the last player to sign directly for Los Blancos from their bitter rivals back in 2000. Finally, Bayern Munich probably wouldn't find finances a problem either, although whether they would be willing to shell out so much on one player is another question entirely.
What if, though, money was not a factor? What if Messi was happy to play for free, or Barcelona were forced to rip up his contract and the world’s best footballer became a free agent?
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No. 1: ARSENAL
Now you can't mention being sensible in the transfer market without bringing up Arsenal. Often self-imposed by the manager himself, their previous reluctance to target the more established names in Europe is despite the huge financial might the Emirates Stadium and a long-standing participation in the Champions League has given them.
The purse-strings have been somewhat slackened in recent seasons, with Arsene Wenger overseeing the signings of La Liga's bigger names in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Signing Messi – something they reportedly failed to do many years ago when assessing the La Masia academy for potential future stars – would be huge for Arsenal.
Lionel Messi reuniting with Alexis in the Arsenal attack is an inviting thought, and in one swift movement it resolves their ongoing striking quandary. Talk in recent months has often centred around whether either Olivier Giroud is of the necessary quality to lead the line for the Gunners, or whether Theo Walcott can truly establish himself as a genuine striker at the highest level. Sign Messi and that issue is eliminated immediately.
No. 2: BORUSSIA DORTMUND
The start Borussia Dortmund have made under new manager Thomas Tuchel this season hints that with one stellar signing maybe they could close the gap on a dominant Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Realistically, only a huge game-changer such as Lionel Messi signing for Dortmund could reverse the tide in Germany. The gap between Bayern and the rest is stark, but slot Messi into the team most likely to challenge in the future and the landscape shifts almost immediately.
Tuchel has quickly banished last season's turbulent form under the departing Klopp. His team started off looking like potentially being able to challenge Bayern this season, but the reality was somewhat different and a 5-1 defeat in early October seems to have silenced the title-talk.
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Music: Chee Zee Lab - Netherworld Shanty by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100683
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
