sparrow1988 Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 7 minutes ago, TreeVillan said: Don't forget if it wasn't for Barcelona, Messi wouldn't have been able to afford his childhood medication for GHD. I'm pretty sure another club would have paid for that if they were on his books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Genie said: I don’t think it’s insane really. Barcelona develop Messi into a superstar Barcelona pay Messi incredible money to make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. Barcelona get into big financial issues, contributed in no short measure by the money Messi was demanding. The definition of loyal would be for Messi to stand by Barcelona when they need him most, even though he doesn’t need to. He can take nothing out but allow them to recover money in which will help them with their debts. Everything that went before was a business arrangement. He stayed in return for record breaking wages. This summer came the test of loyalty, doing something he didn’t have to do because of love for the club. Messi left. He would have left sooner if they didn’t match his pay demands. That's great... Apart from again they weren't allowed to register him as a player They were literally so big a mess that they couldn't sign him, the Spanish FA prevented them from signing him, not for £0 a week not for £10m a week Edit - and all of that, and the school kid growth hormone stuff, he loves barca, don't doubt it for a second... But that doesn't mean he can never leave Edited November 25, 2021 by villa4europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 13 minutes ago, villa4europe said: That's great... Apart from again they weren't allowed to register him as a player They were literally so big a mess that they couldn't sign him, the Spanish FA prevented them from signing him, not for £0 a week not for £10m a week Edit - and all of that, and the school kid growth hormone stuff, he loves barca, don't doubt it for a second... But that doesn't mean he can never leave The president said he believes they could have signed him if he played for free (of course he’s still earning millions elsewhere). We’ll never know the truth of course. I truly believe he loves Barcelona. It’s not the same as saying he’s loyal to them, he stayed so long because they matched his wage demands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 25, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted November 25, 2021 I honestly can’t believe a player is being accused of being disloyal because he wouldn’t play for free 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Stevo985 said: I honestly can’t believe a player is being accused of being disloyal because he wouldn’t play for free There's clearly a rather large Cristiano and Jose fanboy on here. It doesn't really bear up to any scrutiny. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 9 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: There's clearly a rather large Cristiano and Jose fanboy on here. It doesn't really bear up to any scrutiny. It’s not as simple as playing for free. It’s passing up an opportunity to give back to the club which made him a filthy rich superstar. He doesn’t have to stay, staying would be the definition of loyal. Staying for 20 years on £50m - £100m a year isn’t loyalty. It’s business. It would make zero difference to him to stay at the club he loves and not get a basic salary for a season, he still left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 12 minutes ago, Genie said: It’s not as simple as playing for free. It’s passing up an opportunity to give back to the club which made him a filthy rich superstar. He doesn’t have to stay, staying would be the definition of loyal. Staying for 20 years on £50m - £100m a year isn’t loyalty. It’s business. It would make zero difference to him to stay at the club he loves and not get a basic salary for a season, he still left. I might be wrong here but he'd be the first player in modern history to play for a club for free... And he'd do so from a position of being the world's highest paid player In other words it was never going to happen There's still also no decent argument as to why he should either, he should play for free because the previous year they paid him a lot? I don't buy that He gave a lot back to that club, the time was right to go, they've **** themselves up something rotten and he's rightly left rather than watch it all crumble and burn around him 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 12 minutes ago, Genie said: It’s not as simple as playing for free. It’s passing up an opportunity to give back to the club which made him a filthy rich superstar. He doesn’t have to stay, staying would be the definition of loyal. Staying for 20 years on £50m - £100m a year isn’t loyalty. It’s business. It would make zero difference to him to stay at the club he loves and not get a basic salary for a season, he still left. There are so many sources on line that say any person, not just footballer from what I can tell, in Spain can't work for less than 50% of what they earnt before. Also even if Messi did play for free, Barca's wages still massively exceeded the salary cap and they couldn't register him. They could have saved a year's wages if they honoured the verbal agreement the summer before and let him leave. He stayed, helped them get to the Champions League and will probably win the Balon D'Or again this year for his performances for Barca and the Argies. Laporta is a politician. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 1 minute ago, villa4europe said: he should play for free because the previous year they paid him a lot? I don't buy that Maybe we have different meanings of loyalty. For me it’s doing something you don’t have to do because you want to help somebody. To give something back in return for what they have given you previously. Of course Messi can go wherever he wants. It’s up to him, absolutely fine. He wants to play in Paris, absolutely fine, but he hasn’t been “loyal” to Barcelona. He walked away when they needed him. That’s his call. He loves Barcelona but not enough to pay a year for free. Up to him. I don’t blame him, but he isn’t loyal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 4 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: There are so many sources on line that say any person, not just footballer from what I can tell, in Spain can't work for less than 50% of what they earnt before. Also even if Messi did play for free, Barca's wages still massively exceeded the salary cap and they couldn't register him. They could have saved a year's wages if they honoured the verbal agreement the summer before and let him leave. He stayed, helped them get to the Champions League and will probably win the Balon D'Or again this year for his performances for Barca and the Argies. Laporta is a politician. It is a hypothetical scenario because Laporta isn’t the most trust worthy guy. It’s based on him saying he thinks La Liga would have allowed him to play for free (but not a certainty). No argument about how badly Barcelona have been run, you have just reminded me that Mr loyal probably worth we’ll over £100m did try and leave them for free last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 2 minutes ago, Genie said: It is a hypothetical scenario because Laporta isn’t the most trust worthy guy. It’s based on him saying he thinks La Liga would have allowed him to play for free (but not a certainty). No argument about how badly Barcelona have been run, you have just reminded me that Mr loyal probably worth we’ll over £100m did try and leave them for free last season. So you admit you're having a go at him on the basis of Laporta's word. It makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 Just now, sharkyvilla said: So you admit you're having a go at him on the basis of Laporta's word. It makes no sense. It’s based on the president saying Messi could have signed and played for free and the authorities would have approved it. The debate is that Messi is loyal to Barcelona because he’s been there so long, but it seems to me that’s only because they matched his astronomical demands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 6 minutes ago, Genie said: It’s based on the president saying Messi could have signed and played for free and the authorities would have approved it. The debate is that Messi is loyal to Barcelona because he’s been there so long, but it seems to me that’s only because they matched his astronomical demands. But he clearly couldnt have done! Even though he agreed to stay this summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 25, 2021 Share Posted November 25, 2021 Messi is pretty much the epitome of loyalty. What the **** are people talking about? Professional footballers playing for free for **** sake? yeah OK pals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 26, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted November 26, 2021 5 hours ago, bobzy said: Messi is pretty much the epitome of loyalty. What the **** are people talking about? Professional footballers playing for free for **** sake? yeah OK pals. It’s absolute madness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 I’d be interested in peoples definition of loyalty then as I think it differs to mine. Staying in 1 place for a long time because they pay you more than anyone else would isn’t loyalty for me. It’s business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 I wouldnt say he was loyal but i wouldnt call him a mercenary. Fact is he stayed at Barcelona because they were a top team for that period. If he played at Villa he would definitely have left many years before like Grealish has Loyalty in football is dead. Is Mark Noble loyal or did nobody ever want him? Totti could be argued but Roma finished 2nd about 6 times while he was playing so its not like they were Bologna or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 27 minutes ago, Genie said: I’d be interested in peoples definition of loyalty then as I think it differs to mine. Staying in 1 place for a long time because they pay you more than anyone else would isn’t loyalty for me. It’s business. He’s paid handsomely because he’s the greatest player of all time. He could have gone off pursuing different records to cement his legacy (Ronaldo) but he hasn’t. He’s stayed at Barcelona for his entire career until it became impossible for him to stay any longer. All of his best years were given to Barcelona. He could have left at basically any point during their last 4 year(?) decline to win more trophies elsewhere and “be the best” but he didn’t. So, yeah, the GOAT gets paid a lot and has pretty much gone for one last massive payday at PSG. He isn’t the same player any more - all his greatness was at the club he stayed at for (basically) his entire career. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 2 minutes ago, Zatman said: I wouldnt say he was loyal but i wouldnt call him a mercenary. Fact is he stayed at Barcelona because they were a top team for that period. If he played at Villa he would definitely have left many years before like Grealish has Loyalty in football is dead. Is Mark Noble loyal or did nobody ever want him? Totti could be argued but Roma finished 2nd about 6 times while he was playing so its not like they were Bologna or something Yeah, loyalty definitely easier at the very top clubs. I doubt Messi would have been loyal if he started out at, say, Barcelona’s neighbours Espanyol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 As for Messi I actually think he is containing his energies now for Argentina and the World Cup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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