Are Manchester United and Chelsea in with a chance of signing the two superstars?
The Premier League are set to announce a massive new TV deal worth £4.4 billion from 2016 to 2019, a huge 45% increase on the current contract.
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Could this mean that football’s two biggest stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi be on their way to English shores? In all likelihood probably not, but it does increase the chances.
The main reason that it is unlikely the pair will come to the Premier League is Financial Fair Play. The UEFA ruling means that clubs are not allowed to spend more than they earn on new players, and even with the added cash from the TV deal it is unlikely that many clubs will have the resources to finance a move for the Argentine and Portuguese superstars.
Even the formerly big spending Chelsea now have to sell before they buy, as evidenced by their sale of Andre Schurrle before signing Juan Cuadrado for a similar fee.
If the Blues were to move for Lionel Messi as was rumoured they would by the Daily Express in January, then it is likely they would still have to enact a major clear out even with the extra TV money.
What’s more, it is unknown whether the forward would even want to leave the Nou Camp. Angel di Maria recently mentioned that he doesn’t think the World Cup Golden Ball winner wanted to leave the Catalan club in the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile a move from Manchester United for Ronaldo has been rumoured almost every window since he left the club, also by the Daily Express. This move may be more likely, with the Red Devils making £100 million more in revenue according to Sky Sports.
However, there is another problem. Ronaldo is now 30-years-old, and with his game based so much on his power and pace he may not be able to stay at the top of the game for more than the next three years.
With this in mind the Mancunian side may not actually want to spend the massive fee that would surely be needed to bring in what is an ageing player.
So on the whole it is unlikely that these two could move to the Premier League, but at least the extra money clubs will have in a year’s time will mean that other stars will be more likely to arrive. Maybe even the next Messi or Ronaldo…