Now that Barcelona have failed in their bid to keep their prized asset, Lionel Messi, the summer transfer market’s dynamics switched up in a major way as a result seeing as it could affect a number of potential moves that were being mooted before the Messi news came to light.
These are the top six players most affected by Messi leaving Barcelona.
Harry Kane
Heavily linked with a move to Manchester City after the England international revealed his intention of leaving Tottenham Hotspur, Kane may no longer interest the City board much anymore now that Messi is available in the for free.
While wages the club Messi eventually signs for will be mammoth, it will be a drop in the ocean compared to the revenue he will generated for the club on and off the pitch – something of a big ask for Kane to replicate.
Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea are on the case of the Belgium star knowing Inter Milan need funds to balance the books. However, with Messi officially out of Barcelona, the Blues could turn their attention to Harry Kane instead, seeing as City are likely to now go for Messi and drop their interest in the Spurs man.
While Lukaku reminded the world of his lethal form in front of goal by leading Inter Milan to break Juventus’ Serie A dominance and win the Scudetto, Kane knows the Premier League even more than Lukaku and would fit right into Thomas Tuchel’s system at Stamford Bridge.
Kylian Mbappe
PSG’s starboy has been pushing for an exit from the French capital with Real Madrid the destination for the forward. However, he could do a u-turn and decide to renew with PSG should the club manage to bring Messi over to the Parc des Princes.
And that’s on one hand, because PSG could decide they can afford to grant Mbappe’s wish and let him leave this summer if they land Messi.
Sergio Aguero
One only can imagine how much influence Messi had in bringing his BFF, Aguero, over to the Nou Camp after his time at Manchester City came to an end, only to end up potentially going the other way himself.
It was not so sure Aguero would get as many starts as imagined with Messi at Barcelona. But those minutes on the pitch look set to go up now that Messi is out of the picture at Nou Camp.
Raheem Sterling
Manchester City are known to be willing to include Sterling in a deal to bring Kane over to the Etihad Stadium. Now, they may decide to sell him outright should they manage to sign Messi.
The reigning Premier League champions could even keep him and sell other players such as Riyad Mahrez and Bernado Silva to accommodate Messi and Sterling what is an already choking squad that just saw Jack Grealish added to it.
Antoine Griezmann
The Frenchman struggled to find his form soon after his big-money move from Atletico to Barcelona.
But now that Messi is out of the picture, he is now the top man in Barcelona’s forward line and this could see him thrive even more as he was starting to show glimpses of his true form in the second half of the 2020/21 season.
