20 May 2018 03:05:19
EDS please continue providing input on Liverpool page, you're extremely valued here.

I read an article stating the difficulties Arsene Wenger had in the past signing his Wishlist.
I can't recall if he said when he tried to sign Messi 'the deal was difficult because he was sponsored by Nike' and also Barcelona didn't want him to leave.

Which made me curious -> In this day an age
'Do signing players have a great impact on whom the individual is sponsored with which could prevent the deal going through'?
Or is this all just semantics and it shouldn't affect deals at all, it does seem silly if this was the case.

Love your work!
Thomas T.

{Ed002's Note - Thank you for the kind words. I can answer this as it is nothing to do with transfers. You can sort of forget the Messi to Arsenal matter as it dates to when he was a child (14 or 15) and the sponsorship extended to payments to thec player and the club for certain reasons - that are now no longer allowed. Add to that Barcelona were not open to letting him go - it was never an option. However, later Messi did turn down a transfer to one side who had agreed to meet Barcelona's then €250M price tag, and Barcelona and a commercial partner resisted an approach by a commercial organisation on behalf of an English side with an offer to buy, or at least part fund, the purchase of the player. I am also aware that in Spain there was speculation about an offer being made during the summer 2014 transfer window, but it is "largely" incorrect. This all started in 2012 when in mid December Anzhi made an offer to Barcelona that matched the €250M euro release clause that existed in his contract, and put up what I am told was a "very" significant personal package. However, Messi was not interested in a move to Russia and Barcelona did not want to sell - so Messi, in early February 2013, extended his contract with Barcelona. In the early summer of 2013 efforts were being made by Adidas to broker a deal that would get Messi away from Nike and to one of their three high-profile clubs that they were invoved with at the time. Very quickly Real Madrid were ruled out and with Pep Guardiola moving to Bayern Munich that pretty much saw the end of any chance of a move there (given the strained relationship) at the time. This left Chelsea, and I can confirm that discussions were held about making a firm bid - at this point we are in late 2013 and early 2014 and Messi was in a verbal spat with Barcelona about getting a further extension - which the club were against. Ultimately, the player was (at least in his eyes) available during the Spring of 2014 and at that point Chelsea and Adidas made his management representatives and Barcelona aware of what they would be willing to do to make a transfer happen. Since then he has again extended his contract with Barcelona and Chelsea and Adidas have parted company. More recently Manchester City tried to broker a deal but it was not to be. For now Messi stays and those around him will be replaced.}

1.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 11:21:32
Wow, great answer ed, thanks mate.

2.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 13:52:11
Ed2, you continue to amaze me.
Answers like this are why I am so addicted to this site.
Cheers.

3.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 14:10:43
Brilliant. One question Ed, you mention that in the summer of 2013, Adidas were trying to broker a deal for Messi to leave Nike and join with one of their main clubs, my question is how could the sponsor have that much influence over potential transfers? Especially when the play in question is the most expensive player on the planet. Would they simply approach RM, BM and Chelsea and make a case or is it something else?
Many thanks.

{Ed002's Note - It was a financial influence. Adidas would have profitted from a move to Chelsea for Messi. THe amounts of money Nike and Adidas put in to football is far, far beyond what other sponsors do.}

4.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 16:01:21
Yeah that was cool.

5.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 13:40:50
Thanks edd 2.

6.) 20 May 2018
20 May 2018 17:19:07
Imagine if Messi had gone to Russia 😄.