With Messi and Ronaldo finally squaring off in the UEFA Champions League match, everyone’s eyes were focused on Barcelona vs. Juventus. Unfortunately for the fans around the world, Barca didn’t show up to play. The stat lines make it look as though Barca dominated the match but watching the game and seeing the final score showed that Juventus was ready for war. Fighting for the top spot in the group stage to hopefully get a favorable draw for the knockout stages, Barca edges out Juventus by goal differential.
Barcelona sits in ninth place in La Liga with a record of four wins, two draws, and four losses. Messi was shown signs of his age this season with only four goals and zero assists. He has looked frustrated at times with his teammates and himself. At the beginning of the season, he made it known he was ready to move on from the Barca camp. Unfortunately, no team was willing to pay his release clause from the team, set at $825 million.
With what seems like a few years Messi has left and being disgruntled with his coach, he is looking to transfer out of Barca. There are a few teams and former players that would like to team up with Messi at the end of his legendary career. Man City was looking to sign Messi to play at the club for three years and for the last two years of his contract have him go play in the states with New York City FC since the ownership group owns both teams. I don’t believe Messi wants to play over here in America, but it is always an option.
The next option which many soccer fans, including myself, would love to see is Messi to Juventus and team up with Ronaldo. How could this be made possible? It is simple, Juventus offers a player swap for Messi. One player in mind would be Paulo Dybala. Dybala is a young twenty-seven-year-old Argentinian striker who teams up with Messi when they have international matches. Paulo has struggled to find any sort of rhythm this season and has been vocal about being unhappy coming off the bench. Both sides would benefit from the move, and both players would strive in their new environment.
With January next month, that means the transfer market will be active. Barca must make a move to make Messi happy and finish out his career with the club, or it is time to end an era. Messi will always be a Barca legend, but I do believe it is time for him to move on to another club.
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