I really doubt he leaves for free. I know of the release clause, but Barcelona must be working hard to find some reason to deny his request. People are correct in saying this might help Barcelona, though, especially in the long run.
Messi to City is nauseating to think about. I trust that he'll do Messi things...but the EPL is certainly a better league, top to bottom, and much more physical than what he's used to. Not the easiest adjustment at his age. But with DeBruyne feeding him and Sterling running along side, they'll be deadly. Sterling might score 30.
I love that more and more people are beginning to tell the truth about Messi. That is that we are not in 2012 anymore. He does not make the same impact as he did before. I mean, I still to this day will give him high respect, but it's not like before when that respect was close to fear. I'm not paying too much attention to the Messi transfer saga, has Barcelona activated his clause? Are they fighting it at all? Don't the new seasons start soon? When does the new thread open?
Basically Messi has a clause that lets him leave for free at the end of each season. Barca are saying the season contractually ended June 31th, according to the pre-corona calendar that all contracts stick to, which means they insist on the 700mil buyout clause that exists outside of that period. Messi and his team are arguing that due to the extension of this season, the clause is valid until the end of August. Most reports are saying Barca and Messi don't want to go to court, so a 150mil transfer or something is more likely, Man City are frontrunners atm.
New season starts in two weeks, so yea this will influence a lot of the transfer market if a deal happens. Guess we'll start a new thread today or tomorrow.
Thanks, I figured it wouldn't be as easy as Messi wanted it to be. Business is business. 150 million is close to his value based on pandemic discount and his age.
Good luck to him, glad to get him out of La Liga. Too bad Real Madrid isn't in the best position to take advantage of his loss, but it makes Barcelona weaker so let's get it on.
For as great a player Messi is if I can only have one I would rather City complete the move for Koulibaly. Laporte is the only central defender that the team has faith in and Ake is young and for the most part unproven as his only big club experience was with Chelsea but he was young and did not get much 1st team time. Koulibaly is older while not being too old and has been one of the best in Italy and Europe and should be able to step in from day 1 and solidify the defense along with Laporte.
