Lionel Messi - v7

[Windhook]

I mean, he had to leave Bordeaux anyway, the club can't afford to keep his bankable players. But it's a shame he then got sold to Zenith afterwards (he got pretty unlucky there: first issues with some racists fans, and then several injuries that kept him away from the field for a while). I really think his career would have taken a different turn had he sign with Roma instead back then. He wasn't necessarly going to be the best winger in the world, but he's very talented and could have ended in a big team. He still can, but I'm afraid he completely destroyed his career by signin there. Very few are the foreigners who manage to get back on track after a stint in Russia... But he's still young.

Yeah, I agree. Russia and I would add Turkey are final destinations. It's hard to recover after that, unless you have a great agent. I thought Zlatan's move to MLS was the finale of his career, but here we are.

 

[Joan]

Nice to see Ronaldo fanboys in the open air

Not that we had any doubts

 

[Bulgroz]

You could also add China I guess, even though the Dragon managed to make his way back. (and to be fair, Witsel spent several years in Russia and one year in China, and still managed to come back to a pretty decend team in Europe afterwards).

As for Turkey, Rib?ry managed to come back... but it's only because his team wasn't paying his salary so he was set free. Hard to imagine what would have happened with his career otherwise. Really doubt he would have been called with the french NT in 2006 had he been playing for Galatasary. And without that WC (and his 2 seasons with Marseille obviously), not sure Bayern would have bought him. Crazy sometimes how a single career move can make or break a player completely.

 

[Windhook]

Well, Ribery was in his early 20's when moved to Turkey and he was impressive at Galatasaray, but back then the Turkish Super Lig wasn't this pensioners league it became in the 2010's.

On the other topic:
CR7 having better overall career. Probably, if we base "career" on trophies and goals. Cristiano's physique allows him to play until 45 in which he wins trophies here and there with PSG, then return to Man Utd and finish at Sporting playing alongside his son. Meanwhile beating Pele's goal record and winning the media CR7 vs. Haaland rivalry... and on the other end we have Messi who retires in 2023/2024, no more.

Filippo Inzaghi has 2 CL trophies, Roberto Baggio has none. Overall - Inzaghi has more trophies. Does that make Inzaghi greater than Baggio? One of them was the finest Italian playmaker and player I've seen in my lifetime, the other one - beating offside traps and scoring tap in goals.

 

[Richard.H]

A lot more credit needs to be given to the RM front office for making a team tailor made to CR7's strengths. If Messi had the same smart folks running the club it would be a much different story in terms of trophies. I am sure deep down Messi know that Rossell and Bartomeu held him back.

 

[DonAK]

A lot more credit needs to be given to the RM front office for making a team tailor made to CR7's strengths. If Messi had the same smart folks running the club it would be a much different story in terms of trophies. I am sure deep down Messi know that Rossell and Bartomeu held him back.

Our signings in 2015 and 2016 were awful and we needed to make some good ones to replace likes of Rakitic and Iniesta.

 

[Richard.H]

Our signings in 2015 and 2016 were awful and we needed to make some good ones to replace likes of Rakitic and Iniesta.

I would also like to add that putting all our cards on Dembele was an incredibly stupid move. All that Neymar money could have gone to much needed reinforcements instead of some Galactico panic signing.

 

[DHorozov]

The last time Messi scored three or more goals in a single game was on 22/02/2020... I think it is time...

 

[serghei]

I mean, he had to leave Bordeaux anyway, the club can't afford to keep his bankable players. But it's a shame he then got sold to Zenith afterwards (he got pretty unlucky there: first issues with some racists fans, and then several injuries that kept him away from the field for a while). I really think his career would have taken a different turn had he sign with Roma instead back then. He wasn't necessarly going to be the best winger in the world, but he's very talented and could have ended in a big team. He still can, but I'm afraid he completely destroyed his career by signin there. Very few are the foreigners who manage to get back on track after a stint in Russia... But he's still young.

Exactly how I see it.

Extremely poor career choice. I've read he was linked with Everton when we wanted to sell him. If there was any truth to that, I don't know what the hell was he thinking to refuse EPL and go to Russia.

 

[DonAK]

I would also like to add that putting all our cards on Dembele was an incredibly stupid move. All that Neymar money could have gone to much needed reinforcements instead of some Galactico panic signing.

Have you read the story about Barca signing Dembele? They had agreed in advance to not offer anything more than 80m, no matter what Dortmund demanded, but when they met Dortmund's reps in Monte Carlo they agreed to all of their demands.

[FONT=&quot]The careful plan hatched by Barcelona, the richest soccer club in the world, fell apart almost as soon as its negotiators entered the room.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
On a sweltering late summer afternoon, Barcelona’s executives had come to one of Monte Carlo’s most exclusive hotels to strike a deal with the German club Borussia Dortmund for one of the most exciting young prospects in Europe: the French forward Ousmane Demb?l?.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Barcelona had decided on its strategy, and its price: Demb?l?, in Barcelona’s eyes, was worth $96 million, and not a cent more. No matter how hard Dortmund pressed for a higher fee, the men from Barcelona would hold firm. The two executives steeled themselves as they headed to the suite the Germans had booked. They embraced before knocking on the door. And then they stepped inside, only to find that Dortmund’s executives had decided on a strategy, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
The Germans told their guests that they had a plane to catch. They had no time to exchange small talk, and they were not here to negotiate. If Barcelona wanted Demb?l?, it would have to pay roughly double the Spaniards’ valuation: $193 million. The price would make the 20-year-old Frenchman the second-most expensive soccer player in history.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Barcelona’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, was stunned. But he did not walk away.

He quickly agreed to pay almost the entire amount, settling at a fee of $127 million up front, with a further $50 million in easily-achieved performance bonuses. For all his intentions of playing hardball, he felt he did not have a choice.[/FONT]

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/sports/soccer/barcelona-messi-contract.html

 

[DonAK]

Same crap with Griezmann.

He had a 100m buyout then made his mini-documentary. It ended up with us having to pay 120m a year later + 10-15m extra to Atletico disguised as first options for some players so they didn't report us to FIFA for tapping him up

 

[Richard.H]

[MENTION=15376]DonAK[/MENTION] Ya I read about the Monte Carlo thing before and it really frustrated me. Barto got dicked by them and probably ATM too. It's unbelievable how incompetent our front office was.

 

[DonAK]

@DonAK Ya I read about the Monte Carlo thing before and it really frustrated me. Barto got dicked by them and probably ATM too. It's unbelievable how incompetent our front office was.

A lot of it was arrogance.

The last board were arrogant as fuck and had no respect for any other team or Barca itself. They really thought they could get away with anything from making public comments about a player on another team or hiring PwC to do a pathetic inquiry into the Barcagate situation where they controlled the information that was available for the audit.

Didn't help that the two biggest sportspapers in Barcelona barely criticized them.

 

[serghei]

A lot of it was arrogance.

The last board were arrogant as fuck and had no respect for any other team or Barca itself. They really thought they could get away with anything from making public comments about a player on another team or hiring PwC to do a pathetic inquiry into the Barcagate situation where they controlled the information that was available for the audit.

Didn't help that the two biggest sportspapers in Barcelona barely criticized them.

Arrogance + incompetence can ruin anything. Now imagine the club was a private entity, and Bartomeu was the majority shareholder. We got off easy.

 

[Windhook]

Barto tried to save his ass, because Neymar left a black hole at Barcelona and I remember clearly those times being around this forum back then. Basically everybody that summer wanted Barca to sign Mbappe, Coutinho or Dembele. Those where some desperate times, I mean I still can't forgive myself for being disappointed for not having signed Coutinho that summer.