No, I base my opinion on him on his fraud conviction, tax evasion, tricking people into thinking a friendly match he had arranged was for charity and then pocketing the money, spitting at an opponent and refusing to take part in medal ceremony (and getting a 3 month ban for it).
Fair enough, although I'd reserve the "horrible human" for some cruel dictator or serial killer, not for a footballer who has done a couple of mistakes in his life. Can't defend his financial crimes of course, but he has been punished for that already, and somehow I doubt that he's the criminal mastermind behind the other things that you mention. If they're even true, that is - the stories about that charity match fraud that I quickly browsed through didn't seem very convincing. I can't really say though, I haven't really followed his personal life. But making one mistake at the age of 20 by spitting at the direction of an opponent, and not taking part in some ceremony after being the victim of some scandalously bad refereeing? Yes, I suppose he could have handled those situations better, but come on, how does that even contribute to someone's "horrible" status? By that logic anyone who has ever walked through the red lights is a horrible human too. Most people seem to complain that Messi has no character, you make him sound like some proper hothead.
Good, I hope they pay his £50M a year wages, ridiculous for a 33 yr old (ridiculous for anyone really). Hope that club goes bust.
Just been reading about his contract situation. His deal expires next year, with a €700 million release clause! In the contract is a clause that allows him to leave for free at the end of any season, if he so chooses. He’s arguing he’s triggers that clause, but Barca are arguing that that expired in June, when the season was supposed to end.
Hard to explain Ronnie`s greatness to anyone who wasn`t around to see him play but I do remember him coming on as a sub at Hillsbrough and Wednesday virtually shitting themselves - did we win 1-0 or did he save the game (sorry I`m old and forgetful) just remember it was in the days when as away fans we could sit in the north stand and mix with the great unwashed. Can`t recall ever seeing any highlights of that game.
I think whoever signs him is making a massive mistake, not because he’s not a brilliant player as he obviously is but because his wages mean the rest of the squad will suffer as clubs try to comply with FFP. You’ve only to look at the lack of squad depth at both Barca & Juve to see that carrying one player on huge wages weakens your chances of doing anything in Europe. Clubs with lots of quality footballers but no huge ego’s or superstars like Liverpool, City & Bayern should stay well clear. I’d imagine he’ll go to PSG or Man Utd. The other thing is he’s 33 & he’s going to start significantly declining soon. He’s been playing 60+ games a season for 15 years now, that’s got to take a massive toll on your body.
I imagine whoever sign him will make an absolute fortune in sponsorship from the kit manufacturer in particular.
I'm thinking fans of whoever he ends up at will hope to get Ziggy Stardust, but end up with Tin Machine.
We’ll see but even Barca won’t want Messi to stay for a year unhappy then leave for nothing , if a club comes in with a £100m offer , maybe less , he’ll be off
La Liga were always going to say that, they don’t want to lose the league’s biggest star to a rival league. It’s the Spanish courts that will decide on the clause if it comes to litigation.
Why would he want to move to Man City when there's a much bigger club just down the road from us? Messi and Wednesday - a match made in Football Heaven.