All the talk at the moment is about Chelsea’s apparent willingness to pay around £500m to bring Lionel Messi to the Premier League.
Given Roman Abramovich’s financial power, you’d think Chelsea would have no problem with spending that kind of money. Wrong.
According to financial expert Rob Wilson, of Sheffield Hallam University, only two clubs could afford to buy Lionel Messi outright and also satisfy Financial Fair Play regulations.
Those two clubs are Manchester United and Real Madrid. Given the chances of Messi signing for Barcelona’s arch enemy, it looks like the only destination for Messi (if any) will be Old Trafford.
Wilson told BBC Sport: ”With the revenue they generate and cash reserves, only United and Real Madrid could pay the fee.
“With salary costs probably even they couldn’t stay within FFP.”
One way around the FFP rules would be to offer staggered payment to Barcelona, but there’s no reason for the La Liga champions to agree to then when Messi still has four years left on his contract.
“Unless Messi absolutely wanted to get out of the club, why would Barcelona agree to that?” added Wilson.
“Staggering the payments would certainly make it easier for Chelsea, Manchester City, PSG and Bayern Munich but Manchester United demanded the fee up front when they sold Cristiano Ronaldo and I strongly suspect it would be the same for Messi.”
“Chelsea and Manchester City clearly have the financial power but whether they would just do the deal and worry about the consequences afterwards is another matter.
“Most people thought Uefa would take a light touch approach to FFP. In fact they have shown a willingness to apply it pretty rigorously.”
So there you have it. Chelsea will have to buy Messi at their peril, while United could buy safe in the knowledge they won’t be breaking the rules.
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