Few switch tales in soccer historical past stay as mysterious and dramatic as Lionel Messi’s close to transfer to the Premier League in 2013. Whereas the Argentine icon spent most of his profession because the heartbeat of Barcelona, a shocking revelation means that he was very near carrying the blue of Chelsea.
Sportswear large Adidas reportedly performed an important function in making an attempt to engineer the transfer, prepared to pay half of Messi’s staggering €250 million launch clause to interrupt him away from Barcelona’s Nike-backed grip. Nonetheless, regardless of the profitable provide and Chelsea’s readiness to full a world-record deal, the switch in the end collapsed.
So, why didn’t Messi transfer to Stamford Bridge?
Adidas’ function in Messi’s potential Premier League transfer
In 2013, the now Inter Miami star was on the peak of his powers, having already received a number of Ballon d’Or awards and led Barcelona to quite a few home and European triumphs. His significance to the Catalan giants was plain, but behind the scenes, considered one of soccer’s largest manufacturers was plotting a switch that might have modified soccer historical past.
In keeping with Mundo Deportivo, Adidas was determined to wrest Messi away from Nike-affiliated Barcelona and into considered one of their very own golf equipment. Their plan? Provide to pay €125 million—half of his €250 million buyout clause—to facilitate a transfer to both Chelsea, Bayern Munich, or Actual Madrid, all of whom had been Adidas-sponsored golf equipment.
Messi’s relationship with Adidas started in 2006 when he switched from Nike to signal a long-term take care of the German sportswear model. In 2017, he prolonged this partnership with a lifetime contract, solidifying his standing as considered one of Adidas’ most precious belongings. However again in 2013, the model noticed a chance to not solely strengthen their affiliation with Messi but in addition harm their largest rival, Nike, by eradicating him from Barcelona.
If Chelsea had agreed to the deal, they might nonetheless have wanted to pay the remaining €125 million to set off the total buyout clause. On the time, its proprietor Roman Abramovich had the monetary muscle to drag off such a historic switch, however the Argentine’s private stance quickly turned the most important impediment.
How Jose Mourinho virtually pulled off deal in 2014
Whereas the 2013 transfer did not materialize, the same story unfolded in 2014, when Chelsea—this time led by Jose Mourinho—once more tried to lure Messi to Stamford Bridge. In keeping with Gianluca Di Marzio’s ebook ‘Grand Resort Calciomercato’, Messi critically thought of leaving Spain resulting from mounting authorized troubles associated to a tax evasion case.
Throughout that interval, the famous person and his father-agent Jorge Messi had been going through intense scrutiny from the Spanish authorities, main the participant to reevaluate his future. Sensing a chance, Chelsea organized a non-public video name between Messi and Mourinho, hoping to steer the Argentine to tackle a brand new problem in England.
It’s reported that the Blues had been prepared to activate Messi’s million launch clause and provide him a web wage of €60 million per season, an astronomical determine on the time. Nonetheless, regardless of the groundwork being laid and private phrases being agreed, the transfer collapsed out of the blue.
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