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Antalyaspor president Gultekin Gencer has expressed confidence that the club will be able to bring in Lionel Messi within the next five years. The Turkish club have been hitting the headlines recently with the signings of Samuel Eto’o and are close to reaching an agreement with two-time world Ballon d’Or winner and the Cameroonian’s former Barcelona team-mate Ronaldinho.
The expression of desire to sign the Argentina superstar though is the greatest statement yet in their highly ambitious plans for the future.
“I hope the next president after me will be able to bring Messi to Antalyaspor in five years time,“ Gencer told LigTV, according to Goal.com
The Turkish club, who gained promotion to the Super Lig for the 2015/16 season, are planning to move into a new 40,000 capacity stadium from their current Akdeniz University stadium which can accommodate only a quarter of that number.
The acquisition of three-time Champions League winner Samuel Eto’o from Sampdoria was the first major step in Gencer’s plan to bring in people to the new stadium. He dropped a further bombshell by announcing that they will be bringing in Brazilian Ronaldinho as well.
“We reached an agreement with Ronaldinho. I think within two days it’ll be made official. Besides Eto’o and Ronaldinho, we will make another big-name signing. When it’s done, we’ll set the world on fire, “Gencer told Turkish channel TRT Sport.
That big-name signing has now been revealed as Messi, who is gearing up take on Chile with his national team in the final of the Copa America. As per Gencer’s statement though, it is a possibility only for the future.
Barcelona’s new international sporting director Ariedo Braida had commented in March that big money clubs could price Messi away from Camp Nou, according to Sky Sports.
“Sometimes strange things happen. Some clubs have so much money that certain amounts don’t seem to have a value, “Braida told ESport 3, as reported by Sky Sports. He was referring to mainly Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, but the new Turkish Super Lig club seems to outgun the two clubs.
It is not the first time that club officials have voiced over the top interest in poaching the Blaugrana ace, but it has proved nothing more than small talk. Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who was questionably associated with Manchester City, said he was hoping to bring Messi to the club.
It left the Sky Blues in an embarrassing position as it quickly cut off ties with Al-Fahim and stated the club had no such plan, as per Sky Sports report. The recent easing of the financial fair play rules could, however, provide the big-money clubs an opportunity to make a bid, but it is highly unlikely that Messi would leave Barcelona any-time soon, especially after a treble winning 2014/15 campaign.
