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Everyone in Liverpool will have been attentive to the Lionel Messi saga at Manchester City. It seems to be over, for now at least, and the end result is likely to be a positive for the Reds. The best player in the world, possibly of all time, will not play for his closest national rivals next season.
However, there could be collateral effects of City’s failed search for Messi. And they will inevitably have an impact on Liverpool, particularly given the dominance of the two clubs in the Premier League in recent years.
If City decide to sign another attacking player as an alternative to Messi, that could again change the dynamics in next season’s title race, which is very likely to be between the two clubs again. The end of the proposed deal with Messi, which would inevitably have been enormously costly, could also mean that City can get stronger in other areas of the pitch, namely in center-back.
Kalidou Koulibaly has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Etihad, and that still seems to be a possibility.
Pep Guardiola may also choose to strengthen himself as a left back, although the priority is to significantly improve his options as a center back after clear defensive vulnerabilities from last season. It’s not particularly far-fetched to say that losing Messi could work better for City in the long run.
Without a doubt, they will be a more balanced and rounded team without the need to wear the Argentine to turn him into an already established and tactically disciplined starting eleven. The impact in Barcelona is also relevant for Liverpool.
Much has been made of their need to rebuild after the humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich, with former Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman tasked with transforming the club on the pitch. Of course, there was never the intention of letting Messi go. He is, at this point, a more important figure than ever in the long and illustrious history of Barcelona.
But contingency plans would have been made in case he followed through on his original announcement and looked for a way out this year. One of them, yeah the Daily Mail You have to believe it, it was giving Antoine Griezmann a more prominent role.
Now that Messi remains, the future of the French is in doubt and there is talk of a possible change to Liverpool, although that, for the moment, seems a rather tenuous link.
Barcelona will also now work on a tighter budget, so its proposed rebuild, which could include the addition of Georginio Wijnaldum, could become a bit more difficult. The big question now is what happens to the Barcelona sales? Can you finance a Wijnaldum move? Who is the city moving to? The domino has yet to come to light, but the Reds hope it won’t be as dramatic as the impact Neymar’s transfer to PSG felt in the summer of 2017.
Much will depend on Liverpool’s willingness to sell the Dutch midfielder and whether or not he wants to move to the Camp Nou. The only thing that is clear right now is that a potential transfer as monumental as Messi to City has a ripple effect beyond the two clubs involved.
The transfer market is often about reacting to a sequence of events, about opportunism and, in some cases, coincidence. Liverpool, even indirectly, will be affected by Messi’s decision to stay at Barcelona.
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