Why Messi is Right to Stay at Barcelona

Clearly, Manchester City’s owners have a spare £100 million lying around and are determined to spend it somewhere. Kaka’s honourable decision to to turn down their money then allegedly led them onto Barcelona forward Messi. Manchester City denied the story in the end, but don’t be surprised if that’s not the last we hear of it. If the transfer story does bare teeth then should the young Argentinian take the money and gamble his abilities in a potential Manchester revolution, or follow Kaka’s lead  and stick with an already world-wide established team?

Personally I’m surprised that Man City didn’t go for Messi in the first place. At 21 years old he has an extra five years of football over 26 year old Kaka, and after finishing second in the last two ‘world player of the year’ awards has proved that he is just as much of a world beater. He may perhaps hold too much of a likeness with the similarly skilful and equally small Robinho, however there’s no saying that they couldn’t form an epic partnership based on their likeness. Without a doubt a player of Messi’s ability would be an excellent signing if Manchester City can get him and it would be terrific to see him in the Premier League; however it is debatable whether would it be a good move for him.

At Barcelona Messi is a king, much like Kaka is at Milan. The skill based style of football in Spain seems to suit him well, Barcelona are constantly in the Champions League and competing for it, and at the moment there is nothing to hold back his potential. At Manchester City however things are still up in the air. There are constant mutterings over the security of manager Mark Hughes’ job, over the happiness of star player Robinho, over who’s going to be bought to replace whom in the first team squad. Agreed much of this is the fault of the media and their need to pick holes in order to sell stories, however there are some underlining growing pains that the club needs to stretch out before they can move to the next level. Messi, however much he takes the footballing world by storm, is still young and is still developing. Though a change in setting could spark him into even further heights, it could also send his confidence and form crashing. The revolution at Manchester City with its twists, turns and uncertainties would probably not help. Messi has a good thing going with Barcelona at the moment and unless his situation changes he should probably look to stay put. Maybe in a few of years once he’s cemented his abilities with a bit more experience and wants to consider a new challenge then a move might be beneficial, however for now Barcelona is his home and he knows it:

“If it were up to me, I would stay at Barcelona until I finish my career. I will stay as long as they want me and no club can persuade me to do the opposite.”

(Messi speaking to Portuguese newspaper Publico)