Is Lionel Messi heading to the Premier League?
English fans are praying that’s the case after the six-time Ballon d’Or decided he wanted to leave the Camp Nou.
There’s only one real possible destination if he was to come to England - Manchester City.
If he does go to City, Pep Guardiola’s side would almost certainly win the title.
But what if he joined another club in the Premier League? Does that guarantee them title success too?
Well, we had a bit of fun and decided to predict where every club would finish in the 2020/21 season if they spectacularly convinced Messi to sign for them.
Let’s take a look:
*We apologise for some of the terrible photoshops of Messi in different club shirts*
Arsenal | 3rd
Messi comes in and, not only takes the No.10 shirt from Mesut Ozil, but becomes the club’s highest earner. Ouch.
A front-three of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Willian and Messi is mouth-watering but the Argentine isn’t good enough to sort out David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi. He’s good enough to get them back in the Champions League, though.
Aston Villa | 10th
Messi and Jack Grealish in the same team would be fantastic to watch.
Grealish charging around, winning the ball back and giving it to Messi, who would do the rest.
However, Messi will be sidelined for weeks after John Terry knees him in the back during training as he did during their 2012 Champions League clash.
Brighton | 12th
We hear there’s very little difference between Barcelona beach and Brighton beach. Messi would love it down on the south coast.
Burnley | 8th
What better way to prove you can do it on a cold, wet and windy night in Burnley than doing it every other week. We can just imagine Sean Dyche bellowing at Messi for not closing down the full-back and telling him to watch videos of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes to learn how to play centre forward properly.
Chelsea | 1st
Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Messi. Yeah, that’s not a bad transfer window. Chelsea fans would come up with a really original chant for the greatest player of all time. Something like "Leo, Leo, Leo..."
Crystal Palace | 8th
Swapping the red and blue of Barcelona for the red and blue of Palace? Wilfried Zaha would beat three defenders, give it to Lionel Messi who would do the same and put it on a plate for Christian Benteke…to put it wide. Roy Hodgson would rub his face.
Everton | 5th
Carlo Ancelotti and Messi at Goodison Park? Messi could learn a thing or two from Theo Walcott, to be fair.
Fulham | 13th
It would be lovely to see Messi to play his football on the banks of the river Thames at the picturesque Craven Cottage. Aleksandar Mitrovic would act as Messi’s bodyguard, flattening the defenders for Messi to stroll through and score.
Leeds | 9th
Messi always said he wanted to play under Marcelo Bielsa after all…
Leicester | 4th
Has Messi got the character to play for Brendan Rodgers at Leicester? We’d pay a lot of money to see Messi’s face when he discovers his strike partner drinks red bull and chews tobacco before matches. We can't wait to play alongside his idol, Marc Albrighton.
Liverpool | 1st
If Liverpool signed Messi, their front-three would be Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. It would be handy bringing on Messi for the last 15 minutes though...
Manchester City | 1st
There’s no way Messi and Pep Guardiola fail to win the Premier League at City. Please make it happen.
Manchester United | 3rd
We’re sorry but United STILL wouldn’t win the title with Messi. Going forward they would be unreal. But Messi isn’t going to help solve United’s inability to defend. We’re not quite sure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the ability to get the best out of Messi, either.
Newcastle | 10th
Oh please make this happen…
Messi being one of 11 players behind the ball as Newcastle play out a 0-0 at home to Sheffield United. Steve Bruce is on the touchline shouting at “Leo” to go back with the overlapping centre-backs. Mike Ashley offers him unlimited Sports Direct mugs and a £20,000-per-week contract.
Sheffield United | 6th
Messi playing under Chris Wilder? Yes, please.
Southampton | 6th
Corrr. Messi feeding Danny Ings over and over and over again. It would be almost unstoppable. Messi may have to fight James Ward-Prowse to take set-pieces though…
Tottenham | 4th
During the north London derby, Jose Mourinho uses Messi in a left wing-back position to help defend against Hector Bellerin’s forward runs. Messi turns into a complete sh*thouse during the season with more yellow cards than goals.
West Brom | 15th
Messi’s announcement video features a man struggling with his boiler before West Brom’s mascot comes bouncing in, fixes the boiler, then removes his head to reveal the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
He helps the Baggies survive relegation, too.
West Ham | 8th
West Ham signing an ageing player on massive wages who is past his best? Where have we heard that before?
We’re so sorry for putting Messi in the same category as Samir Nasri, Patrice Evra, Alvaro Arbeloa, Andy Carroll, Yossi Benayoun etc. etc.
Moyesy managing Messi would be fantastic, though, wouldn’t it?
Wolves | 4th
For some unexplainable reason every time Wolves play a team, all of their left-back are absent through injury. It has nothing to do with the fact they have to face a double threat of Adama Traore and Lionel Messi.
