Let’s get one thing straight here; no club in the world is going to spend €250m (£217m) on one player – at least not for another decade or two. Barcelona inserted that gargantuan release clause into Lionel Messi’s contract for one reason alone – just in case.
But what if every club in the world rubbed a long-forgotten lamp and had a genie give them all that money just to sign Messi and pay those high wages that come with the package? Which club would be the ideal club for him? We look at five destinations for the Argentine forward if he ever left the Camp Nou under such circumstances.
Note: Only clubs that regularly play in the Champions League have been considered (obviously).
1) Napoli
“Leo...MES-SI! Leo...MES-SI! Leo...MES-SI!”
Apart from simply looking forward to hearing the famous Stadio San Paolo explode and chant his name when he scores a goal, there are a couple of other reasons why the club in Naples is a good shout.
Firstly, if he were to move to the Italian Serie A, why would you want him at Juventus? Nobody wants that – it would kill a league that is slowly starting to gain prominence after a few years in the European wilderness.
Secondly, ever since the downfall of the two Milan giants, Napoli have been one the main contenders to give Juventus a run for their money. In fact, they were even crowned winter champions last season before imploding and losing out on their best chance to land their first title since 1990.
Gli Azzurri have pretty much stuck to a 4-3-3 formation this season but remove Jose Callejon and put in Messi alongside Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne and you’re looking at another frightening trio that would make Europe defenders nervous.
Lastly, there is also the proverbial handing over of the torch from one of Napoli's all-time greats – Diego Maradona. The Argentine striker had previously helped Napoli win their only two Serie A titles in 1986/87 and 1989/90. Messi could do the same. And he probably wouldn’t sell himself out like Gonzalo Higuain did.
2) Manchester City
Ah, the reunion Pep Guardiola would probably look forward to with both anticipation and trepidation. It was Guardiola who converted Messi into a false nine courtesy of a Eureka moment one night in his office. But at the same time, his success became his undoing as even benching a player such as Messi soon put a heavy burden on him.
What he would give to have Messi at Manchester City now, though. In spite of the riches available in terms of attacking talent at the club, he has struggled to get results ever since the club’s slide down the table midway through the season (of course, the shoddy defence is also to blame).
Also read: Why Pep Guardiola is struggling for results at Manchester City
Guardiola is not a big fan of Messi’s compatriot and international strike partner Sergio Aguero. Word on the street is that Aguero will be gone this summer and who better to replace him than Messi himself?
Gabriel Jesus had also impressed prior to his injury and the two could work in tandem until Guardiola figures out how to get the best out of Raheem Sterling. With excellent playmakers in Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva in support, Messi could finally put to bed an age-old question: can he do it on a cold, wet night in Stoke?
3) Borussia Dortmund
It has been a while since the German Bundesliga was competitive. Yes, we do see some cracking games in the league and a couple of upsets now and then. But in the end, Bayern Munich always win.
The last time the Bavarian giants did not win was in 2012 – also the last time Borussia Dortmund were a force to reckon with in the league. Ever since then, they have always finished second-best to Bayern, even narrowly losing out in the 2013 Champions League final.
Bayern have also been guilty of raiding the best clubs in the land and uprooting their best players. With the financial muscle and Hollywood-like allure, it is not difficult to find the best. So what if Dortmund had the trump card to sign Messi?
Thomas Tuchel has experimented with a number of formations varying from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-1-4-1 to a 3-4-3... He has tried everything and they have lost their way a bit this season.
Slotting Messi into the number 10 role could give Dortmund the boost it needs. With Ousmane Dembele and Marco Reus to support him while he plays alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Signal Iduna Park faithful would have a gala time watching them bang in goals.
4) Arsenal
Poor Arsene Wenger. It has been seven seasons since he saw Arsenal drawn in the quarter-final draw of the Champions League. Twice in that streak, it was Lionel Messi who wreaked havoc and knocked them out. Of course, he has also met them before in the quarter-final. In all, he has scored nine goals against Arsenal – a record in the Champions League.
So if Wenger wants to go out on a high following 20 years of both success and failure, why not sign his greatest nemesis? It would immediately elevate Arsenal to worthy title contenders and allow them to at least look up in awe when they reach the latter stages of the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
It would be the statement of intent that has long been missing ever since he built the Invincibles squad back in the early 2000s. Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez would hurriedly sign their contract extensions and Messi would automatically replace the erratic Theo Walcott in the starting lineup.
Even if Wenger were to leave and Max Allegri came in to do justice to all those rumours going about, the Italian is known to be a master tactician and would easily find a place for Messi on the pitch.
5) AS Roma
Messi may not have been the pioneer of the false nine role and he will certainly put his hands up and admit it was Francesco Totti who breathed life into it way back when the Italian forward was in his prime.
But if Messi were to come to Roma, it wouldn’t be in a false nine role. The 40-year-old King of Rome may step aside soon but I won’t go as far to say that Messi deserves to be his successor – yet.
Mohamed Salah has always been described as the poor man’s Messi. So why not replace him with the real Messi in AS Roma’s current setup? He would fit into a front three on the right with Diego Perotti on the left and Edin Dzeko leading the line.
With the hardworking Radja Nainggolan and Kevin Strootman or Leandro Paredes behind them, Luciano Spalletti could finally have the firepower required to help the capital club win their first league title since the 2000/01 season.
Of course, this is all just wishful thinking. But fans are allowed to dream...
