Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Messi almost joined Chelsea
Lionel Messi could have signed for Chelsea in the summer after adidas offered to pay half of his
£210million buy-out clause, according to Barcelona sports paper Mundo Deportivo.
Messi, who joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old after the club paid for expensive hormone therapy treatment without which he would never have made the grade as a professional, has always had a strong emotional bond with the club.
But according to Mundo Deportivo, adidas saw the opportunity to prise him away from Barca - and effectively from Nike who sponsor the Catalan giants - and move him to one of their three main European clubs: Chelsea, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
The pro-Barcelona daily says that Messi’s representatives were made aware of adidas’ proposal and that they then informed the club, who were also told Messi had no intention of leaving the club.
Even if adidas had stumped up the £105m, Chelsea would still have had to find the other £105m and manager Jose Mourinho would have had to convince a player with whom he has never had a very good relationship that the two could work together.
£210million buy-out clause, according to Barcelona sports paper Mundo Deportivo.
Messi, who joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old after the club paid for expensive hormone therapy treatment without which he would never have made the grade as a professional, has always had a strong emotional bond with the club.
But according to Mundo Deportivo, adidas saw the opportunity to prise him away from Barca - and effectively from Nike who sponsor the Catalan giants - and move him to one of their three main European clubs: Chelsea, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
The pro-Barcelona daily says that Messi’s representatives were made aware of adidas’ proposal and that they then informed the club, who were also told Messi had no intention of leaving the club.
Even if adidas had stumped up the £105m, Chelsea would still have had to find the other £105m and manager Jose Mourinho would have had to convince a player with whom he has never had a very good relationship that the two could work together.
