Despite Study Valuing Lionel Messi at ~220 Million Euros, Chelsea Continue to Show Interest

Lionel Messi Worth ~220 million euros

Manu Fernandez/AP Photo

Study Concludes Lionel Messi’s Transfer Value is 220 Million Euros; Chelsea Show Continued Interest

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory published a study indicating that 2014 Ballon d’Or-favorite Lionel Messi, is worth 220 million euros in the transfer market. The number is based on an algorithm that considers 1,500 fee-paying club transfers that dates back to 2009. Cristiano Ronaldo, the second most-valued footballer on the planet, was calculated to be a mere 133 million euros in comparison.

Yesterday, the Daily Star reported that English club Chelsea, were prepared to spend 200 million euros to trigger a contract-release clause in Messi’s current deal with Barcelona. Obviously, the Blues would only shell out this amount of money with the intent to sign the Argentinian international. Manchester City is also reported to have interest in prying Messi from Barcelona, and signing him themselves. However, the Citizens have not announced a numerical value of what they would be willing to spend, as of today.

Due to the Financial Fair Play restrictions, Chelsea would need to drastically alter their current roster, and squad, in order to accommodate Messi – but the biggest challenge of acquiring Messi’s services would be be parting with such a substantial amount of cash. Keep in mind that Chelsea have Jose Mourinho as their manager, and he has proven the ability to mold championship-winning squads in multiple European premier leagues.

Looking at the situation from Barcelona’s perspective, selling Messi could be incredibly advantageous, although the decision would be undoubtedly, heavily scrutinized. With such an enormous pay-day, Barcelona could look to sign a handful of the best young talent to surround Neymar, and build a foundation for sustained success in years to come. Alternatively, the sale of Messi would allow Barcelona to bring in some of the most high-profile footballers currently looking for new homes, such as French international, Paul Pogba.

The soccer world is primed for an awe-striking conclusion to the Messi transfer-saga. It is incredibly rare that one of the best footballers on the planet, in the prime of his career, would be moving between such high-profile clubs. To shed light on just how rare this phenomena is, Real Madrid are known to buy players in such scenarios. They recently paid 100 million euros to Tottenham in order to acquire Gareth Bale. That signing raised the eyebrows of soccer supporters around the globe, but looks to be a modest fraction of what a potential deal for Messi might entail.