Santi wrote:Not saying he should’ve come to Arsenal n try to drag us up the table but seeing him join Ronaldo at Juve for 2 years or help Liverpool fight against City’s oil money would’ve been great. Opportunity missed imo, not like he needs the money or ever will.
Accto reports, Chelsea, Spurs, United, and PSG were interested in acquiring Messi. Joining Juve was never feasible. They don't have the money and are looking to offload Ronaldo themselves (due to his wages), especially now with Allegri back. But it's not possible in this market. It was reported that Allegri was against signing Ronaldo in the first place.
The likely destinations for him were Manchester (United), London (Chelsea), or Paris. I don't see why Messi would join Chelsea or United. They're not really that alluring for non- anglophile elite talents.
If Arsene were here and this were 2016, I think we'd have stood a chance. I really do.
Back in 2016, Messi did talk to Cesc about Arsenal in case an agreement with Barca couldn't be reached.
Messi has turned down City twice—once by choice (2012) and last season, as he didn't want to take Barca to court. Pep stated that after Grealish, City weren't in for Messi. City are also at odds with UEFA and the rest of the Prem. Even Villa wanted to sell Grealish to United over City as, allegedly, other clubs in the Prem do not like City.
They've been chanting the mantra of net spend for a while now. No club/manager has ever done that as far as I can recall. They're desperate to prove that they're not Money Inc. Pep's claim that they bought Grealish for £40m net—having sold players for £60m is hilarious. They were never in for Messi this time.
Nevertheless, I'm digressing.
Liverpool isn't really an attractive destination for most South American players. I'd go so far as to claim that even the likes of Salah or Mane would have joined other top clubs if there was interest. Believe it or not, Arsenal were the most attractive English club for foreign players before City joined the big league. We simply never capitalized on that as much as we should have—after we left Highbury—for various reasons.
Phil71 wrote:Mbappe and Neymar will be knocking on the door asking for a pay rise.
Neymar, no.
Mbappe will leave for Madrid. Now whether Messi's arrival changes his stance and he signs a 3-year deal, or he leaves immediately, that's not known. He wants to become
the star player. At PSG, it wasn't possible as long as long as Neymar was there. With Messi's imminent arrival, he's going to be the third biggest star at PSG.
Will be interesting to see what he (Mbappe) does.