We are used to Chelsea outspending the rest in the transfer market. Or at least we were until recently. The new FIFA FairPlay legislation has changed the face of the game massively as clubs can now only spend what they make in revenue rather than tapping the bottomless pockets of the their billionaire owners.
This has has particularly affected the top clubs in England like Manchester City and Chelsea. They were comfortably outspending the rest but now they have to balance the books, giving clubs like Manchester United – who have far bigger turnover – the upper hand in the market.
But Chelsea still have the odd big splurge in them. The question is, could they afford Lionel Messi?
Rumours have been rife over the last couple of days that Messi may move, as he has reportedly fallen out with Barca boss Luis Enrique, who has refused to comment on the rumours. He also ‘liked’ Chelsea on Instagram which has lead some to believe that he’s on his way to The Bridge.
Chelsea are a highly ambitious club but and would surely want Messi. But could they afford him? He’s likely to cost somewhere around £150m – that’s a pure guess by the way. That represents nearly half of the entire turnover of the club in the financial year up to June 2014. With a profit in their of £18.4 million you would imagine that Chelsea would have to sell a number of stars to make a deal viable.
But players like Messi are way ahead of the rest in terms of sponsorship interest. His move to Chelsea would make the club far more attractive to potential sponsors and you could expect that to increase hugely almost straight away.
If you want something badly enough you generally find a way to get it. Let;s face it, it would be boring if Messi played for Barca for his entire career. We would love to see him more to Chelsea to test himself in The Prem.
Let’s see some snippets of his genius. Chelsea fans: do you feel that this deal could happen?
