Barcelona Transfer News: Lionel Messi Fears Raised in Cristiano Ronaldo Duel

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has risked causing controversy by commenting on the battle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the title of best player in the world, suggesting Messi's current role at Barcelona will see him grow unhappy at Camp Nou.

The Argentine is currently being comfortably outscored by his long-term rival, handing Ronaldo the initiative in the battle for the Ballon d'Or, and Wenger believes Messi's wide berth in the Catalan side could lead to issues.

According to Anthony Hay for MailOnline, the experienced Frenchman told BeIN Sports:

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When Messi sees that Ronaldo has scored so many more goals than him, it will play on his morale. On the wings, he cannot maintain his goal average. In the long term, he won't be happy.

The best player in the team has a power within the club. He can make the coach better if there is chemistry between them. So, if his position doesn't suit him, it weakens the team as whole.

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However, there is just one issue with Wenger's assessment of the situation, and it is quite a major one. Messi has not been playing wide, even since the arrival of Luis Suarez.

WhoScored.com statistics list the Argentine as having started in a central forward role in every game he has played this season, while Suarez is listed as having started his three games from the right.

According to Bleacher Report's tactics expert Sam Tighe, the Frenchman is misguided in his concerns:

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Messi sometimes switches into wide areas in order to allow Pedro or Suarez to instigate the press from a centre-forward position. However, Messi has been spending around 70 percent of the game in central areas.

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Wenger may have a point. Messi may indeed feel that his lack of goals in Barcelona's current setup is costing him. However, a return of seven goals and seven assists from 11 games in La Liga this year is still sensational.

It cannot be helped that his rival has set records tumbling with 18 goals in the opening 10 games of the league season. Even in Messi's best form of his Barcelona career, such a tally would be a tall order to match.

This B/R video from before the recent Real Madrid-Barcelona clash takes a look at the pair's current rivalry status:

It is strange that a manager should choose to comment on a player from another side in such a manner, especially when Messi has shown little inclination of planning to leave Barcelona. Indeed, as reported by ESPN FC, it was only in May that he signed a new contract at Camp Nou.

While individual awards are doubtless a major incentive to both players, having shared the past seven Ballon d'Or titles, 27-year-old Messi would have to be considered unlikely to consider walking out on Barcelona after so many years based upon a lower goal tally than his rival alone.

If there were to be a reason for Messi to head to pastures new, it would surely be more likely that money or a breakdown in personal relationships with someone within the club would be to blame.

Michael Probst/Associated Press

The 2014 Ballon d'Or will now almost certainly head to Ronaldo, with the odds on a win for the Portuguese now as low as 1-9, according to Oddschecker.

Ronaldo has been virtually untouchable over the past 12 months, bar a frustrating three games at the World Cup in which his teammates offered little in the way of support. With Madrid he has been excellent, leading them to a much-craved 10th European Cup final and now to the top of La Liga.

Few would bet against a Messi response in 2015, though, with the duo once more likely to dominate the world football agenda.