‘Messi is not good enough for Tottenham’
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 6 Jul 2022 17:45 BST
- 3 min read
Lionel Messi would not get into the line-ups of top Premier League teams like Liverpool, Tottenham or Manchester City, according to former England defender Danny Mills.
Messi scored just six league goals in a difficult debut season with Paris Saint-Germain and Mills suggested the 35-year-old was past his best, despite being full of praise for the Argentine.
Mills said : "I think he is the greatest footballer I have ever seen. I didn't see [Johan] Cruyff live, I didn't see [Diego] Maradona. Messi is the greatest footballer I have ever seen.
"I know Ronaldo's numbers may be slightly better and he's more of a big-game player and all of the rest of it, but, in terms of a pure footballer, Messi is the greatest. But, would you take Messi now in your team? Probably not.
"We're talking Premier League aren't we realistically. Liverpool wouldn't take him, City wouldn't take him, Tottenham wouldn't take him. No, I don't think they would."
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Is Messi good enough for Tottenham?
Having endured his worst goalscoring season in more than 15 years, it is not the craziest thing in the world to suggest that Messi may be declining after a long, fruitful career at the top.
But the notion that the former Barcelona man wouldn’t get into teams fighting for the top six in the Premier League after winning Ligue 1 with PSG is perhaps one step too far.
There were also doubts over the ability of Cristiano Ronaldo to perform at the top level following his return to Manchester United last summer.
However, the Portuguese legend ended up as United’s top scorer, netting 24 goals in all competitions.
🤔 “Would you take Lionel Messi right now? Probably not…”
❌ “Man City? No. Liverpool? No. Spurs? I don’t think they would.”
Danny Mills doesn’t think any of the Premier League top six would take Lionel Messi right now pic.twitter.com/SmTj1Fg5Rw— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 5, 2022
Although ageing players are not suited to the high-intensity pressing systems usually implemented by top sides, elite footballers are able to adapt their game to still contribute positively.
While the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner endured a slow goalscoring start at PSG, he registered 14 assists in 25 league games and focused more on a creative role compared to the free-scoring exploits he was previously known for.
Certainly no Premier League team would look at a player with Messi’s track record and think they would be worse off with him.
