Messi retires from international football, age 29

[Badgers]

La Liga, on Sunday, decided to take the side of FC Barcelona in the contractual battle between the club and their greatest-ever player Lionel Messi and said only if the Argentine's release clause is paid for can he move out of the Catalan club as the current deal is still valid.

La Liga Sides with FC Barcelona in Lionel Messi's Contractual Battle - News18

La Liga, in its official statement, said that the only way out for Lionel Messi was if his release clause is paid for.

www.news18.com

 

[steveo87]

Messi to stay at Barcelona

Lionel Messi says he is staying at Barcelona as it is "impossible" for any team to pay his release clause and he does not want to go to court.

www.bbc.co.uk

A U-turn so 'u-turny' it wants to privatise the NHS.
And so 'Telegraphed' if everyone reads this article at the same time, the collective shrug will alter the Earth's rotation by 25%.

 

[Badgers]

FFS

He was a shoe in at Leeds

 

[Teaboy]

lol he's going to phone it in for a year and then leave on a free. Good thinking Barca.

 

[Humberto]

I don't think he was as good as Maradonna. He had intelligence to go with ability but Maradonna's shear balance, mentality, composure plus far more skillful was on a diferent level, as good as Messi is whatever.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

I don't think he was as good as Maradonna. He had intelligence to go with ability but Maradonna's shear balance, mentality, composure plus far more skillful was on a diferent level, as good as Messi is whatever.

I disagree. Messi and Maradona are eerily similar in their style as a left-footer, low centre of gravity, rapid acceleration, ball glued to the foot. Both of them ran teams, everything good going through them.

It's quite possible that Maradona did all those things better than Messi, but the difference is marginal at best. And that to me is massively outweighed by Messi also banging in 50+ sometimes impossible goals every season for a decade and a half. Maradona was the perfect no 10; Messi is the near perfect 10 & a better goalscorer than any 9.

See also: why Messi knocks Ronaldo into a cocked hat. Near identical goalscoring, but so much more besides.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Yeah, scoring at the rate of Gerd Muller, assisting at the rate of de Bruyne and collecting trophies at the rate of Phil Neal but for fifteen plus years makes him the best for me.

And before anyone claims Diego won the WC by himself in 86 that's to do that Argentina squad and manager a huge and incorrect disservice.

 

[souljacker]

And before anyone claims Diego won the WC by himself in 86 that's to do that Argentina squad and manager a huge and incorrect disservice.

I don't think it's right to say Diego won it on his own but it's important to point out that that Argentina team wasn't the best in the world without Diego, in the same way Napoli weren't the best team in Italy in 1987. He was the difference and therefore the reason both teams were succesful.