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One might conclude that Lionel Messi was ultimately forced to stay put in Barcelona for one more season. The Argentinian magician, who is still considered by many to be the greatest footballer in the world, took this decision to avoid an ugly legal battle with the club that gave him all.
However, this seems to be only the interval in this story and Messi's desire to leave for good as a free agent seems not to be waning right now.
Often, footballers whose loyalty to a club seems to be incorruptible, have shocked the world by nearly making a switch to another football team. We are inundated with stories of such transfers taking place before the move either falls through or we realise that it was never initiated in the first place.
However, in this article, we will take a look at five bona fide cases of one-club footballers whose loyalty has become the stuff of legends, where they actually came close to switching sides.
5 loyal footballers who almost joined another club
#5 Ryan Giggs to Inter Milan
When one thinks about legendary one-team footballers, one of the first names that comes to the mind is of Ryan Giggs. Giggs spent his entire career in Manchester United, winning an unprecedented 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues and various other silverware with the club during their most dominant phase.
The dazzling left-winger, who could both destroy defences with his skills and score worldies, netted 161 times for Manchester United in 928 games and never seemed close to leaving the club he joined as a youth player in 1987.
However, as he himself admitted in a TV chat show recently, the footballer was heavily linked with a move away to Inter Milan in 2003. Though, Inter never approached him personally, the rumour in the club was either Giggs or Beckham would be moving on. Beckham did and Giggs never left to join Fabio Cannavaro and Co. and went on to win more laurels for the Red Devils.
He is currently doing a great job as Wales manager.
#4 Sergio Ramos to Manchester United
Sergio Ramos is synonymous with Real Madrid. Or that's how it feels, isn't it? But if one knows Ramos well then one knows that besides being one of the greatest centre-backs in the world who can get crucial goals, he also has a rough side to him which leads the Spain international to kick out and get ont he wrong side of the referee.
The footballer similarly lost his temper off the pitch back in 2015 when contract negotiations with Los Blancos nearly hit a dead end and he seriously considered moving away to Manchester United who were then being coached by Louis Van Gaal.
Ramos was later candid about that troubled period:
"At one point I did think about making a change, but at the end of the day my priority has always been Real Madrid and I thought about a change for other reasons."
Ramos is one of the most decorated contemporary footballers, having won four Champions Leagues and five Spanish Leagues with the club and is also a World and European champion with La Rojas.
#3 Steven Gerrard to Chelsea
Now this near transfer almost began a riot in a city. Born in merseyside and often voted as Liverpool's greatest ever footballer, Steven Gerrard actually handed in a transfer request to the club months after leading them to a dramatic Uefa Champions League win in 2005.
Gerrard's autobiography on the subject is both fascinating and revealing. While at one point he suggested he wanted to swap Red for Blue in pursuit of his ambition to win the Premier League title with Chelsea, at another, he says he didn't want to do the swap but wanted Liverpool to appreciate him as a player.
Complicated contract negotiations also played their part in the midfield maestro doing the unthinkable on that day as protests from fans erupted outside the Liverpool training complex.
Ultimately, he took a U-turn and stayed on to play a leading role for Liverpool till 2015. Next year, the footballer would play a stellar role in what is dubbed 'the Steven Gerrard FA Cup final' in 2006 as the club triumphed. He, however, never won the Premier League, coming agonisingly close in his penultimate season before the infamous slip happened. So, should he have made the switch in hindsight? One can only specualte about it
#2 Francesco Totti to Real Madrid
Here is another shocking transfer that was almost finalised. Like Gerrard, Franesco Totti is Italian club Roma's biggest legend, a footballer, nicknamed L'Ottavo Re di Roma (The Eighth King of Rome), Totti was well and truly Roma's most inspirational figure and their captain through and through. However, even this one-club legend was almost 80% sure of making a shock move to Real Madrid.
Even his wife had decided to stop all her ventures in Rome and move with him to Madrid. However, like he had often done in the past and will do so in years to come, the attacking midfielder chose to stay back to serve his first love, Roma.
Totti Spent more than 24 years in Rome, helping the club to one Serie A and two Italian Cups. A footballer of his talent might have won more had he moved to a bigger club, but he would not have won the eternal tag of a one-club legend if he had done so.
#1 Lionel Messi to Manchester City
We begin and end with Lionel Messi after La Pulga almost did the unimaginable by putting in a transfer request through a bureau fax to his childhood love, the club that made him the player he is today. It was a symbiotic relationship in many ways with Messi winning a record six Ballon'D'Ors and as many European Golden Shoe awards on a personal level while giving Barca four Champions League trophies and 10 La Ligas.
He has been part of the best club team during the tikitaka heyday and has been touted as the best player in the world through different Barca eras. But the current decline was too much for even him to bear.
However, with La Liga standing by Barcelona, and their beleaguered president Josep Maria Bartomeu, saying the €700 million release clause was still valid and Messi was not a free agent, he had no option but to stay back for at least one season despite reportedly being on the verge of rejoining his favourite manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
The amount the rmagician footballer had agreed on with City was stated to be as big as the one earmarked as his release clause.
For now, the footballer stays back at Barcelona as the club begins their rebuilding phase. His contract expires next year, will he leave then or stay back to continue his two-decade long relationship with Barca and become the greatest one-team footballer that has ever played the game? Your guess is as good as mine.
