I know that Daily Express is a joke but it was too funny not to share this one XD

LIONEL MESSI weighed up a shock transfer to Arsenal before signing a new Barcelona deal just two months ago, according to reports in Spain.

The Argentina striker locked horns with the Spanish club in May as he demanded a new contract that would make him the best-paid player in the world.

He spoke to team-mate Cesc Fabregas, to ask his agent to sound out a potential move to Arsenal.

The 27-year-old had a £197million buy-out clause and wanted wages close to £300,000 a week.

Both would have put him out of Arsenal’s reach but as a long-time fan of Arsene Wenger, Messi considered a move, says Spanish website Vozpopuli.

The disillusioned star was reeling as Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League and lost the league title to Atletico Madrid.

At the same time Fabregas was discussing a potential return to the Emirates, but Wenger – well stocked in midfield – did not take up first option to buy him.

Barca quickly tied Messi to a new deal. The buy-out clause stayed the same but his wages rose from £10m a year to £16m a year, according to Spanish media.

Messi missed out on the Ballon d’Or as best player in the world to Cristiano Ronaldo, but still scored 41 goals in 44 games and would have instantly made Arsenal title contenders.

However, signing him would have smashed their record transfer fee (£42.5m for Mesut Ozil) as well as their wage structure.

Would have been great to have him but we could neither pay his wage nor his price.

We would have to sell Emirates Stadium to pay his wages, Wenger would probably got heart attack just from that numbers.

LOLZ, Yeah he would be too expensive for Arsenal to handle, and he would be injured after 2 months in Arsenal, you guys have one of the worst physical coach staffs ever... fire their a$ses...
Anw, another bait click article from DailyExpress :D :D but actually it was originated from some Spainish journalist as I remember reading somewhere.

@tuan Arsenal signed new physio coaches from Germany national team, month ago, so we will see.

@quikzyyy: finally... if it works out fine, EPL would be very very entertaining.
Imagine Arsenal without injured key players.... scary ...

@tuan haha as if one physio will change everything. Just kidding I'm an optimistic person, I go into every season thinking no long term injuries will happen. If we get an injury record like Chelsea's last season, that would help us a lot.

When we got Eva our injuries went down by a lot. You never know. ;)

Messi would higher the Club value considerably, the club will be bigger with him and his wages are a fair for the money who will make the club earn, more money for sponsors, more visibility, more attractivity, bigger fan base, i guess Arsenal could double its club value for less than 2 years...
So yes with the big marketting impact the game has, Messi price and wages are justified and Arsenal will get bigger with him without talking about the sportive results.
Anyway, Messi joining Sanchez would be odd move to Sanchez, and a disaster for Barça fans, some say that he doesnt like the new changes in the Club but i dont think he will leave anyway, he is too close to break La liga goal scoring records, as he broke every single Barça record except for appearences...

every club can dream...but honestly I agree with tuan_jinn I feel this story is just fabricated to get cheap attention.

agree with @tiki. the values of the club will be immensely increased... wages would then be nothing compare to the values he brings to the club (fans, tv, marketing campaign...)

@tiki of course Messi would have a massive massive impact on any club he would join. And if we could pay the transfer fee and his wages it would be 100% worth it. But if he did want to leave why arsenal of all places ?

^ It's written? He's a big fan of Wenger apparently ( I still don't believe any of this crap).

Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea getting Messi to play for Gunners. But all will base on the tactics to deploy to bring out a positive output. But from what I've seen it will be very difficult for Arsenal to buy a play with such a huge price tag. And looking at our style of recruitment such an amount can fetch us fifteen young up and coming players and later sell them.............

@onuapa right now no one can buy messi

Real Madrid, PSG and City can but he is not for sale at any price, unless he wants to leave...

@tiki yeah that's what I meant. To break his contract with barça you'd have to give them your club.

@Onuapa, the only way Arsenal can buy Messi would be if he literally loses one leg and plays with one leg only. Not only they couldnt afford him but there would be no way on earth that Barcelona would let him go.

The reason I posted this, was that its funny how the Daily Express bs left and right about a "possible" transfer that we all know would not happen.

I call bullshit one this one. Just some fabricated story that the papers can generate a couple of quid from.

that made me laugh