Lionel Messi Open To Chelsea Transfer, Adidas Will Help Fund $300 Million Deal

Lionel Messi is allegedly open to a transfer to Chelsea. He is even prepared to get into a dispute with Barcelona over his current income that will then pave the way for him to transfer to Stamford Bridge.

According to the Express, the Argentinian forward has already had a dispute with the Catalan side over his wages.

Lionel Messi currently earns around $25 million a year playing for Barcelona. However Cristiano Ronaldo, who is thought of as Lionel Messi’s greatest rival for the crown of best soccer player in the world, earns $29 million. Messi apparently wants to earn this sum too.

There have also been rumors from Spain that Messi is unhappy with the attention that Neymar has been receiving. Messi has broken numerous records while playing for Barcelona, and in the last few weeks alone he has become the all-time leading goalscorer in both La Liga and the Champions League.

Whether the above is actually true though is very much up for debate. Neymar and Messi have always maintained a very cordial and healthy relationship. There have been rumblings that this friction might have been created to try and coerce Barcelona into offering Messi a new deal.

But there are other reasons why Lionel Messi might be considering a move to Chelsea. First of all, it is thought that he would like to play in the Premier League at some point during his career. Plus his close friend, Cesc Fabregas, who Messi played alongside at youth level, is now at Chelsea too.

In fact, insiders have suggested that Fabregas, who transferred to Chelsea from Barcelona this summer for close to $50 million, has already been trying to convince Messi to join him in London.

There is just one little issue though; the gargantuan sum of money that it would cost Chelsea to pry Lionel Messi away from Barcelona. It’s believed that they would need to offer $300 million to land him.

But they might be getting a helping hand from one of their sponsors. Adidas, who are Chelsea’s club sponsors, are willing to pay a substantial amount of the transfer fee because they know how much money that the addition of Messi to Chelsea’s roster would bring in shirt sales alone.

Messi himself exacerbated rumors earlier this month when he came out with a vague quote that suggested his future might not be at Barcelona.

“Today I live in the present. I want to make a great year and win titles with Barcelona. Then we’ll see, football takes many turns. While I always said that I would always stay there, sometimes not everything happens the way you want.”

It sounds like we may finally have an answer to that age old question, “Can Lionel Messi do it on a cold, wet night in Stoke?”

[Image via Concrete-Online]