Chelsea Transfer News: Lionel Messi Rumours Addressed by Jose Mourinho
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted there is “no chance” of the Blues signing Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
The Argentine, regarded by many as the greatest player ever, was encouraged by Cesc Fabregas to join up with the Stamford Bridge club earlier in the week, per Richard Arrowsmith of the Daily Mail.
However, as noted by Arrowsmith in the aforementioned piece, the former Real Madrid coach told BT Sport's Clare Balding Meets there are several factors that look likely to prevent any deal materialising:
"No, I have no chance of that.
Because at this moment there is financial fair play and with the financial fair play we have to follow certain rules, certain numbers and we obviously have no conditions to buy, as you say a 'super amazing player' paid with 'super amazing numbers' that Chelsea at this moment we cannot do.
"
Here is the clip, courtesy of BT Sport:
The prospect of Messi donning Chelsea blue and linking up with the likes of Fabregas is tantalising. Indeed, the two La Masia graduates harboured an exceptional understanding during their time together in the Blaugrana first team and would surely continue that in the Premier League.
Messi stirred some talk of a potential exit from Catalonia with some intriguing quotes earlier in the season, per Ben Hayward of Goal.com. However, in recent weeks, he has afforded us with another emphatic indication of why Barcelona remain the best club for him, notching 15 goals in his last nine games, per WhoScored.com.
What's more, while it’s not been his best year, teammate Xavi still thinks Messi is worthy of the Ballon d’Or, per World Soccer Talk:
Indeed, despite not winning any team honours in 2014, Messi has still scored 58 goals in total:
Barcelona are currently undergoing a period of transition. It would therefore be ludicrous for them to even ponder the prospect of selling a player as talented and iconic as Messi, even if they were to receive a £200 million bid—a fee rumoured earlier this season, as reported by Tony Banks of the Daily Express—from the Blues.
Aside from the factors already outlined by Mourinho, you have to wonder whether he’d see Messi as an appropriate fit for Chelsea anyway. After all, the manager is rarely one to compromise on cohesion, and the Argentine’s work ethic has dwindled drastically in recent seasons with injury problems clearly beginning to take their toll.
It’s worth remembering that Mourinho did make specific allowances for Cristiano Ronaldo’s reluctance to track back during his spell as Madrid boss, though. If the situation was to eventually arise, there would surely be a scenario in which he would be able to accommodate Messi’s talents too.
However, as noted by Mourinho, the move for the genial Argentine looks beyond even Chelsea’s ambitions. Not that it will be of any major concern to the club’s supporters, who are currently enjoying their team playing a brash brand of football and surely gearing up for a prosperous 2015, in which the club will challenge for a plethora of honours.
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