Are You Ready Arsenal Fans? 3 Reasons Why Lionel Messi Will Join Arsenal

The international break might not have seen a lot of terrific action, well apart from the Euro knockout games, there hasn’t been much to talk about on the football pitch. The attacks in Paris have certainly cast a shadow in many games, but one rumour did catch the fancy of many.

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona superstar, has hinted that he would be willing to move away from Barcelona after tax related issues and his preferred destination would be Arsenal. Probably the greatest player in the world, Messi was almost signed by Arsene Wenger when the Argentine was still young but the deal couldn’t get done. Arsenal surely would have one of the best attacks in the world if they were to sign the Argentine, especially with the likes of Sanchez and Ozil playing with him.

While many might scoff at the fact that Messi is under contract till 2018 and his buy-out clause is over $200 million, here are three reasons why the deal could still take place.

Contract expires in 2018

Lionel Messi might not be contracted for all that long with Barcelona and there is a remote possibility he would not sign a new contract as he would be 30 in 2018. Barcelona have a ton of talent to promote from La Masia and although seeing Messi not wearing the colours of Barcelona would be a travesty, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time club or player has decided to part ways.

Messi would be a free agent to choose where he plays next and he would have a ton of suitors but he was almost signed by Arsene all those years ago, he could repay that faith this time around. Of course, Messi would be targeted by many other top clubs but the La Liga connection of Ozil and Sanchez could attract the Barcelona ace.

Time for a new challenge

Messi has won it all for Barcelona; there is nothing that is missing from his cabinet while playing in Spain and well, apart from Spain which country has a league that is as demanding? England might not be doing well in international tournaments but their domestic league is one of the best in the world and Messi wouldn’t be a bad fit here.

‘Can he do it on a cold, windy night at Stoke?’ would be the inevitable questions but Bojan Krkic has shown that he could do it, isn’t it time Messi did the same? And comparing him to Diego Maradona, the other legendary Argentine striker was the one man show at Napoli after he was sold by Barcelona. Messi would have a starring role at Arsenal and could well lead them to the ultimate prize, the Champions League.

The money

It has been reported that Messi would want a contract of £600,000 per week as wages while that would blow the wage structure at Arsenal through the roof, they could easily recoup that money through various sponsorship deals and shirt sales. Imagine Messi on the back of the Arsenal jersey, the number of sponsors fighting for that chance would easily repay the wage.

Also, Arsene is known for his economics and with the club already paying the money for the Emirates stadium, they would extra money flowing in the form of gate receipts. This deal might seem a little ludicrous, but Ronaldo and Bale to Real Madrid were equally astounding, not to forget Luis Figo ending up at Real Madrid while he was starring for Barcelona.