Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is pushing for an exit out of the Spanish city he’s called home for more than a decade and rumor has it he wants to go to Stamford Bridge. Fresh off two record breaking performances, one in which he broke Telmo Zarra’s all time La Liga scoring record, and the other besting Raul’s UEFA Champions League goals record, the Argentinian captain has told those in his camp that he would like to play with former teammate Cesc Fabregas at Chelsea next summer.
Earlier this week we reported that Messi hinted he could leave Barcelona and we believed that he would leave the Catalan club for the English Premier League. Manchester City, United and Arsenal have all also shown interested in the four-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winner, but Messi has told his camp that Chelsea is at the top of his wish list.
When asked earlier this month if he would leave Barcelona, the 27-year-old said, “Today I live in the present. I want to make a great year and win titles with Barcelona. Then we’ll see, football takes many turns. While I always said I would always stay there, sometimes not everything happens the way you want.”
Barcelona’s price tag to move Messi is a whopping $313 million dollars. According to sources, Adidas, who are the sponsors of Chelsea, would be willing to help broker the deal with the EPL club if Messi left Nike to sign with Adidas.
In addition to the move to London, Messi has been recruited by close friend and former teammate, Cesc Fabregas, who transferred to Chelsea last summer. Messi is reportedly frustrated with Barcelona and brass and is insulted that he makes nearly $5 million a year less than his rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s known to not be in love with the attention Neymar has been getting with the club, and additionally his tax problems have created a huge financial burden on him and his family.
Messi believes that his son, Thiago, would receive a better education in London than he would in Barcelona and has apparently been teaching him English. This entire thing could be one giant ploy to get Barcelona to sign Messi to a new contract that would best Ronaldo’s, but more than likely a move to the EPL come next June could be a real possibility.
Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, told reporters on Friday that, “Obviously Messi going to Chelsea is not true. Obviously it’s not true.” Of course Mourinho has to say that with his club currently in first place atop the table in the EPL and a potential Messi move still months away. However, if Chelsea can find a way to pay the $313 million dollar fee to get Messi, all while playing within the rule of FIFA’s Financial Fair Play guidelines, you could see Messi in Blue this time next year.
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