A Spanish television show has claimed that Adidas were
keen to have the Barcelona man playing for one of the teams they were
associated with.
Reports in Spain have arisen that Adidas tried to
orchestrate a deal to take Lionel Messi to one of the teams that they
manufacture kits for last summer by bankrolling half of the Barcelona star’s
release clause.
The current Ballon d’Or holder is an ambassador for the
three-stripe brand, but wears the logo of competitors Nike every time that he
steps on the pitch for Barcelona.
As such, the sportswear company were reportedly willing
to pay half of Messi’s €250 million release clause to prompt him to move to
either Bayern Munich or Chelsea.
The news was revealed on the Punto Pelota show on Spanish
television, with reporter François Gallardo spilling the beans.
It is believed that the Bundesliga side were keen to meet
the other half of the South American attacker’s release clause and were willing
to offer Messi a huge €20m-a-year salary and 100 per cent of his image rights.
This salary would eclipse what the star currently earns
in the contract he signed with Barcelona back in December.
The deal did not get off the ground however, as Messi
himself stated that he had no interest in leaving Barcelona. When the proposal
was put to the Argentinian forward, he rejected it outright, stating that he
wanted to stay with Barcelona and was not interested in a move to Bayern or
Chelsea.
With Messi the Catalan club’s top goalscorer of all-time
already, the South American forward looks set to spend the rest of his career
with his boyhood club.
Culled from Hereisthecity
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