Barcelona have nothing to fear from Chelsea’s courtship of Lionel Messi
Rumors connecting Barcelona star Lionel Messi to Chelsea are great for selling papers, but the La Liga giants don’t have anything to actually fear. They aren’t going to lose the best player in the world to the Premier League giants.
Multiple news outlets have picked up the rumor that Messi might be interested in a move to Stamford Bridge and run with it over the last 24 hours. It’s a creative story and all, but it just doesn’t pass any sort of logic test.
The general idea is that Messi is upset with Barcelona because they’ve failed to fully back him during his tax case with the Spanish government. Messi and his father were recently convicted of tax evasion by the Spanish government, but are going to be able to avoid jail time. Ultimately they’ll pay a fine, but that’s it. At the absolute most, it’s a slap on the wrist for the Messi family.
A mild embarrassment like this isn’t going to be enough to cause Messi to seek a move away from the La Liga giants. He currently plays for arguably the most talented club in the world and has a chance to win every competition imaginable. He also happens to feature in the world’s most dominant attacking trio alongside Luis Suarez and Neymar.
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Chelsea isn’t exactly a wasteland as it pertains to attacking talent, but they don’t have anyone with that kind of firepower. Playing with the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa would be nice, but it pales in comparison to his current situation.
A move to Chelsea would also cost Messi the chance to participate in Champions League football next season. Does anyone really think that he’s going to give up that opportunity at this point in his career? In particular, Messi will be anxious to show off his talents during next year’s Champions League competition after failing to deliver a trophy for his country during this summer’s Copa America.
Forgive me if I don’t think that Messi would be quite as fired up to try to power Chelsea to a FA Cup trophy next year. No disrespect to England’s domestic cup, but it doesn’t hold quite the same cache as Champions League football.
Chelsea’s recent managerial change also doesn’t lend itself to Messi making a move to Chelsea. Antonio Conte isn’t exactly renowned for providing his attacking players with total freedom on the pitch. Messi isn’t going to sacrifice the massive amount of offensive freedom he enjoys at Barcelona for the rigid rule of Conte at Chelsea.
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The idea of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona for Chelsea is fun to think about, but it’s not a rumor rooted in reality. It’s just paper talk folks, treat it accordingly.
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