Could it be Messi in England?
Lionel Messi would get into any football team in the entire world but he has shown loyalty to Spanish giants Barcelona; but is there trouble in paradise?
Reports coming out of Spain suggest the player, four times winner of Ballon D'or, isn't happy in Spain at the moment and it's seemingly down to the medical staff.
The best player in the world earns just under thirty million pounds a year with the Catalan club but that doesn't include sponsorship deals!
'Lionel Messi could have signed for Chelsea in the summer after adidas offered to pay half of his
£210million buy-out clause, according to Barcelona sports paper Mundo Deportivo.
Messi, who joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old after the club paid for expensive hormone therapy treatment without which he would never have made the grade as a professional, has always had a strong emotional bond with the club.'
It's staggering to think he earns just over eighty thousand pounds a day; that's three hundred and sixty five days of the year!
So where could the man from Argentina go if he was to leave Spain?
First there's the little matter of the transfer fee; the only way that his release clause will be agreed is for a bid exceeding two hundred and ten million pounds! It makes the world record paid for Gareth Bale look like peanuts!
So that would only leave three clubs in the Premiership and one in Spain, France and Germany that could make an offer to click the realise clause.
Bayern Munich and his old boss could be quite a nice proposal but will they meet the asking price? Pep Guardiola I'm sure would try his best after working with the football genius. I just doubt the German giants would make such a big offer.
Real Madrid really isn't a realistic destination for the attacking midfielder; the chances of a riot and death threats would just be too much. If you add to that a team of Ronaldo, Bale and Messi, it would be an unfare advantage on any team they played!
Paris St German are also a club on the up but the French League isn't one of the best in Europe so maybe that would also be a non runner.
In England it would be between both Manchester clubs and a South West London club.
Would the owners and shareholders of United be prepared to spend so much on one player? Add to that his wages and I think the Red Devils will come unstuck.
So what about the blue side of Manchester with owners that are worth billions? The only problem I can see there is the lack of silverware; but I wouldn't discount them and put them as second favourites.
The only club that I can see that can afford the player that many think is the greatest of all time is Chelsea football club.
Owner Roman Abramovich is used to getting his own way and would see it as a huge personal challenge to sign the free scoring midfielder.
He will have no problem in triggering off the release clause; breaking the world record would be seen as a bonus.
The player himself would want at least the same amount of wages he's currently on now but his advisors would probably ask for more!
In theory, if his advisors play it right, Messi could be on one hundred thousand pounds a day or thirty six and a half million pounds a year! The bad news is that's before sponsorship; the good news is it's before tax.
We all know football clubs are owned by billionaires but should this happen it will take football to a whole new level.
A playground for the richest of the rich; but what will it mean to the average fan? That is what is worrying about the whole thing.
Written by Paul Moore, a football fan.