Barcelona: Five players who could replace Lionel Messi
By Bence Bocsak
The Argentinian legend could soon be on his way out of Barcelona, here is a list of five players who could replace him at the Catalans.
Lionel Messi has been the greatest Barcelona player to ever play for the club. His status is ethereal in Catalonia and the Argentinian number 10 is without a shadow of a doubt one the best footballers to ever grace the pitch in the game’s illustrious history.
Yet with his ageing legs and Messi himself hinting recently that he could be leaving the Catalans soon, Barcelona must prepare for a time without Lionel Messi in the very near future.
Of course it is unlikely that the club will be able to find someone who is the same stature of Messi but they must endeavour to have a Messi replacement who is in the Argentinian player’s ilk and who can at least fill the void which will be left behind.
Here is a list of five players who could potentially have what it takes to replace Messi with the Catalans.
1. Ansu Fati
So many comparisons have already been drawn with the 17-year-old to Messi. Just like Messi, Fati was lured away from a distant country in order to join La Masia when they were just kids. Fati also made his debut at a very young age (16) just like Messi. He also got himself on the score sheet for Barcelona and has broken some of the records set by Lionel Messi already.
Fati is set to be the next sensation who has come through the ranks at La Masia and he is already featuring regularly for the Catalans despite only turning 17 in late October.
Is is easy to see why people have compared Fati to Messi, the Spanish youth international is of a slight build and his dribbling technique whilst still raw can at times resemble the way Messi weaves through defenders.
It is still early days but the Catalan officials will certainly be hoping Fati could provide a long-term solution for when Messi does inevitably depart the club. It would save Barcelona a lot of money and time in the process and having already showed promising signs there is no reason as to why Fati cannot do it.