Messi or Ronaldo: Who would you love to have in the Premier League?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two biggest names in world football right now. Unfortunately they are both plying their trade in La Liga for the Spanish giants of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. But if you had the choice of seeing either Messi or Ronaldo in the Premier League who would you choose and why?
Over the past few weeks there have been a few rumblings of discontent coming out of Ronaldo's camp. The 27-year-old refused to celebrate his goals against Granada, which took his tally to 114 goals in 104 games for Real. He is now the 10th highest scorer in Madrid's history.
Ronaldo put English clubs on red alert with his actions but claimed he would never join Manchester City while Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge of Manchester United. With Sir Alex now 70 that sad day for United fans may come sooner rather than later. No wonder Sir Alex has reportedly been pleading with the board to break the bank to bring Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.
The Portugese star knows the Premier League inside out. He learned his trade here and spent six seasons in Manchester. The highlight being 2007/08 when he scored an amazing 42 times in 49 games. His mesmerising skills and eye for goal is just unbelievable and even United's fiercest rivals have to admire his return. They may not like his antics, but you can't argue with his achievements.
But what about Messi? The Argentinian magician is still only 25 but his achievements are quite frightening. He's picked up the Ballon d'or three times, FIFA world player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year twice and won La Liga five times and the Champions League three times. At 25 he is already Barcelona's all-time record goalscorer and shows no sign of slowing down.
Messi is right up there with your Peles and Maradonas. What he can't do with a football is simply not worth knowing about. Whether it's a pinpoint free-kick or one of his trademark dinks over the keeper, Messi is simply unstoppable infront of goal.
Having scored 73 goals in a season and recorded the most hat-tricks (eight) in a single campaign, Messi is amazing. The only two clubs in England who could afford him are Chelsea and Manchester City. His wages would be off the chart, but it would be great to see him in the Premier League up against the likes of Stoke and QPR.
Messi loves Barcelona and will probably never leave the Nou Camp, but boy if he did England would have to be his next challenge. He would never play for another Spanish team, Italian football is too defensive-minded for him and German clubs wouldn't pay that kind of money for him.
Ronaldo of course has already sampled the Premier League and would fit right in. He would also be a better player than before. But would Messi be able to cope with the pace and physical demands of the Premier League? I would love to see him prove us wrong.
Would it be too much for United, Chelsea and City to bring both of them here?!
If I had to choose one it would have to be Messi. The guy is a genius, but I'd happily settle for Ronaldo to grace the English game again as well.
But who would you choose: Messi or Ronaldo? The choice is yours.
Whatever your view we'd love to hear from you.
