If news in the press are to be believed, Roman and Chelsea are willing to make a mockery of all previous football transfer records to bring Barcelona forward Lionel Messi to Stamford Bridge.
Billionaire owner Abramovich has reportedly given Avram Grant the go ahead signal to bid for the Argentine, who is probably Barcelona’s most valuable asset this moment, given Ronaldinho’s poor current form. Messi was Barcelona’s standout player in their Champions League semifinal against Manchester United, and proved too hot for Ferdinand and co. to handle. And that performance has led many people to change their minds in the ” Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi- who is better ?” comparison that keeps cropping up every now and then.
If Barcelona do decide to accept the 80 million pound offer, it would shatter Real Madrid’s successful 46.5 million pound bid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001. It is not clear what exactly Messi’s buyout clause is, but reports estimate it to be around the 125 million euro mark.
Chelsea certainly have the financial power to pay Messi- German skipper Michael Ballack earns £130,000 a week at the Bridge.
Rio Ferdinand’s fee could touch 33.3 million pounds if he fulfills performance related clauses.
Rooney’s fee was estimated to be somewhere near 27 million pounds.
Andriy Shevchenko’s fee was rumoured to be somewhere near 30 million pounds. He is currently the most expensive British signing ever. The above figures have not been adjusted for inflation.
As I said at the beginning, if the deal goes through, it will make a mockery of all transfer records.
80 million is alot!
This is awesome
no way barcelona will let this happen.
What the hell are you guys on? This article is from 2008.