Why Lionel Messi Should Spend the Rest of His Career with Barcelona

Lionel Messi continues to write the narrative for Barcelona and football generally.

Fifteen years ago, the Argentinian walked into the club as a fresh-faced 13-year-old with the same dreams and aspirations as thousands of other hopefuls.

Little did we know then the impact Messi would make on the game.

His career to date has seen him win an astonishing 25 club titles, including four winner's medals in the Champions League and seven in La Liga, and 109 individual accolades ranging from an unprecedented four Ballon D'Or wins and a record eight Olimpia de Plata Argentinian Footballer of the Year awards to top goalscorer and UEFA Player of the Year prizes.

With an absolute minimum of three-to-four years left at the top level, there is plenty of time for Messi to make his an even more storied career.

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There has often been a question posed as to whether Messi can legitimately claim to be the best of his generation because he hasn't played in a supposed "tougher" league than the Spanish top flight—that Cristiano Ronaldo somehow has the edge because he has also done the business in the Premier League.

It's a moot point.

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Although Ronaldo leads as top scorer in UEFA club competitions, Messi is right on his tail. Similarly, he is just one behind in the all-time assists chart, per StatBunker, and he is sure to go on and break Ryan Giggs' record of 30.

As the player with most goals and most assists in La Liga, arguably Messi has little to prove.

Whenever he has played against Premier League opposition, particularly Manchester United, Messi has always acquitted himself well.

In the big moments, the Argentinian has always been there at the coalface: two goals against the Red Devils across two Champions League finals, the assist to Andres Iniesta to knock Chelsea out of the competition at the semi-final stage in 2009—the list is practically endless.

Suggestions "he couldn't do it on a wet Wednesday in Stoke" are facetious at best and would surely be proved wildly incorrect if ever there became a situation where Messi had to leave Barcelona.

The likelihood of the same happening is minuscule. Why? Because Barca is the club of his life. The club in his heart.

As far back as 2010, Matthew Dunn of the Daily Express noted Messi's words when asked if a move to the English top flight was ever a possibility:

"

Will I play in the Premier League one day? I have said that I want to be at Barcelona for life. I will be here for as long as they want me. I owe Barcelona more than for giving me a chance—I owe them for changing my life.

When I was at Newell’s Old Boys my hormone condition meant I was never going to make it as a professional.

My father had to take three jobs, but the medical bills in Argentina are very expensive and we still couldn’t afford them, and no team at home was prepared to take a chance and pay them.

Barcelona offered to pay them and moved me and my family to Spain. How could I ever leave a club who done that for me, and why would I ever want to leave a club who play football like this?

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Some five years since that particular quote, the club are still playing football of the highest standard and Messi remains the main piece of the jigsaw.

As his goalscoring prowess begins to wane, as it inevitably will in later years, Messi will still prove to be the fulcrum of the side because of his high level of passing accuracy and his ability in a playmaking role, a role we are already beginning to see him take on board.

Simply put, he is the most important player in Barcelona's rich and successful history, but there are many chapters of his story still to write.

There is more history to be made, starting with Barcelona becoming the first team in the modern era to retain the Champions League.

No one has set the bar as high as the Blaugrana and Messi over the last decade or so, but both player and club remain hungry for more.

It's a desire and way of working that underpins the Blaugrana success story and has kept the club at the very top since Messi's introduction into the first team.

Why would he want to settle for second best anywhere else?