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Lionel Messi playing in the Premier League could be a real possibility this season.
Manchester City have become the favorites to sign the six-time Ballon d’Or winner after he shocked the world on Tuesday night by sending a transfer request to Barcelona.
L’Equipe also gave additional credit to the speculation Friday night by revealing details of a phone call between Messi’s father and agent Jorge and Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi to Manchester City
Messi’s team is alleged to have made it very clear to PSG sporting director Leonardo that they had already made their final decision: to meet Pep Guardiola in Manchester.
As crazy as it would be for Messi to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus or Kylian Mbappé at PSG, there is no denying that moving to the Etihad Stadium makes more sense on paper.
Los Ciudadanos play the exact type of passing football that served Messi so well at the Camp Nou and the Argentine was arguably enjoying the best form of his career under Guardiola.
Will it shine in England?
And given that City have millions at their disposal to make Messi financially possible, it’s no wonder that many fans are already treating the situation as a ‘closed deal’.
As a result, we can be forgiven for getting a little ahead of ourselves in speculating what a world would be like with Messi playing in the Premier League.
Would Messi produce his Barcelona numbers in England? Would City snatch the Premier League title from Liverpool? Would Messi perform on a cold and windy night at Burnley?
Messi’s value in England
These are all important questions that we will have to rest easy to find out the answers to, but one thing we can figure out ahead of time is Messi’s worth compared to the current crop of the Premier League.
The data gurus at Transfermarkt constantly calculate transfer estimates for the world’s best players and Messi is no exception with his current market value of £ 100.80 million.
So how does that compare to the rest of the Premier League? Well we decided to find out and Messi would become the sixth MVP in the competition if he joined.
You can check out the top ten below to see who rubs shoulders with Messi:
10. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool): £ 72 million
It seems fitting that the player who nearly beat Messi at the 2019 Ballon d’Or is also mixing it up with him in the value rankings and the best center-back in the world deserves nothing less.
Its value declining below what Liverpool paid for it is simply due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the Premier League and the world champion going from strength to strength at Anfield.
9. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United): £ 72 million
Is Rashford’s courage inflated by the fact that he’s English and plays for United? Of course it is, but the credit is to the credit because the 22-year-old was fantastic on and off the field last season.
Even with a quiet end to the campaign, which was preceded by a serious back injury, 22 goals in all competitions meant that 2019/20 was the year that Rashford truly realized his potential at Old Trafford.
8. N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) – £ 72.00 million
It’s been two good years since Kante was touted as one of the best players in the world after back-to-back Premier League titles with Leicester and Chelsea, before winning the World Cup with France.
But going from world class to being ‘just’ excellent still means Kante is one of the Premier League’s best players and a key asset to Chelsea’s purported title charge in 2021.
7. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool): 99.00 million pounds
If there is a better winger in world football, we have not seen him and no, Alphonso Davies could be a European champion, but he is still not at the level of Alexander-Arnold.
The young star of England deserved an outside shot for the PFA Player of the Year award this season and racking up 13 Premier League assists from one winger is simply incredible.
6. Lionel Messi (Manchester City?) – £ 100.80 million
Ah, the main man. It’s crazy to think that Messi can still charge a nine-figure transfer fee despite being in his thirties, but his mind-boggling statistics explain this anomaly in an instant.
The 2019/20 season was the biggest sign so far of Messi’s evolution into a playmaker, as he became the first player in history to surpass 20 assists in La Liga, while also topping the scoring charts. .
5. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – £ 108.00 million
From second best passer in the world to number one … it’s scary to think that City could have a monopoly on the world’s deadliest aid providers and it could be bad news for Liverpool.
Guardiola will rub his hands together at the prospect of Messi and De Bruyne teaming up with tiki-taka triangles and it will surely be enough to return the Premier League title to Manchester.
4. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) – £ 108.00 million
Injuries and Tottenham’s decline in form have meant that Kane has failed to produce the numbers that saw him win consecutive Premier League Golden Boots in the past two seasons.
However, no one can deny that Kane is one of the best number nine in the world when in song and 24 goals in just 34 outings last season still marked a fantastic comeback.
3. Sadio Mane (Liverpool) – £ 108.00 million
It has been reported that Barcelona are considering Mane as a possible replacement for Messi if he goes to Manchester City this summer, so perhaps this particular order will never materialize.
But Mane is arguably Liverpool’s best player right now, so Barcelona will need a lot more than £ 108 million to force a deal for a player who seems more than content on Merseyside.
2. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – £ 108.00 million
It should come as no surprise that so many Liverpool players are moving around the £ 100 million mark when they reached the Premier League title before any team before them in 2019/20.
And Salah played an invaluable role in the Reds’ run to 99 points and the fact that he did not win the Premier League Golden Boot for the first time in Liverpool is not a valid criticism.
1. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City): 115.20 million pounds
First of all, there is only Sterling. We’re not sure if the England star is the best player in the Premier League, but he’s not far behind and 31 goals marked an excellent comeback in 2019/20.
Sterling has become one of the most prolific wingers in world soccer in the past three seasons and could start chasing close to 40 goals if Messi supplies him with ammo.
More than just transferring value
Of course, of course, the elephant in the room here is that Messi would be way ahead of his potential Premier League arrivals if he hit the English shores in his prime.
Messi is now 33 years old and his goal score declined in 2019/20, albeit only by his own astronomical standards, so it’s not a crushing outrage that his value is slowly falling.
Also, if we look at the broader connotations of ‘value’ in football, we’re pretty sure to say that Messi would bring more to the table if he moved to England.
There are good reasons to think that the Citizens would get as much for their money in terms of kit sales as they would in goals scored. But hey, he’s one of the kids, after all.
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