Lionel Messi Will Continue to Dominate Following Barcelona's Summer Signings

Lionel Messi is close to scoring his 400th career goal, an insanely high number for a player of his age and a testament to his greatness. But following Barcelona's busy summer, it's safe to say the best is yet to come for the mercurial forward.

As reported by the Daily Mail's Richard Arrowsmith, the Argentine legend currently sits on 398 career goals, needing only a brace against Athletic Bilbao to bring his tally to 400.

Those numbers include 245 La Liga goals for Barcelona, 67 strikes in the UEFA Champions League and 42 in international competition for Argentina. For a 27-year-old, those statistics are mind-blowing.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Like his eternal foe Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi is a living legend. The pint-sized attacker shouldn't be this prolific. His success shouldn't be this sustained. And yet, after the summer of 2014, his dominance looks set to continue.

Messi is more than just a finisher. He's lethal running with the ball at his feet, and he has developed tremendously as a passer in recent years. There was a time defences would close in around Messi and find some level of success.

Under Luis Enrique, using such a tactic against Barcelona will be pointless, the equivalent of football suicide. With Luis Suarez and Neymar joining Messi as expert scorers, defences will no longer have the luxury of simply playing to stop Messi.

The Argentine international has had some minor issues with injuries since the start of the 2012-13 season, as reported by Transfermarkt.hu, but he's not an injury-prone player. Like so many of his colleagues, he often struggled due to being rushed back to the pitch too quickly, as Barcelona were dependent on his scoring.

With the addition of Suarez, that is no longer the case. Neymar should be settled into his new situation after a full season in La Liga—fans and pundits are expecting a massive year for the Brazilian. Teaming with Suarez, he should be able to provide plenty of goals for the Blaugrana, even without Messi.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Neymar and Suarez are only the beginning, however. La Masia, Barcelona's famed academy, has once again provided the club with several supremely talented attackers going into the 2014-15 season.

Sandro Ramirez and Munir El Haddadi have both looked sensational in their first matches with the senior squad, per OptaJose, and both will only lighten the load on Messi's shoulders in the future.

La Pulga has built a sensational reputation as a scorer, but his ability to create as a playmaker is very underrated. Running at the defence with the ball at his feet, he's one of the most menacing sights in modern football.

Those runs open up tons of space out wide, and where Alexis Sanchez was the main man taking advantages of those spaces in 2013-14, Messi will have a host of talented finishers to play the ball to for the foreseeable future.

Barcelona will be much better in 2014-15 than they were in 2013-14. And while the incredible success of the years under Pep Guardiola will be next to impossible to repeat, there's little question more silverware is in store for the Catalans.

Messi is at the peak of his football abilities, and he will stay there for the next four or five years. The Blaugrana have surrounded him with the talent needed to maximise his abilities, and all ingredients are in store for the four-time Ballon d'Or winner to continue his dominance for years to come.

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