source : wikimedia
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two absolute stars of European football for over a decade now. They have been the dominant figures of the sport, often competing for the title of the best footballer of all times. They have been loved, worshiped, celebrated and followed by fans,
just as they have been anchored for millions and millions of bets in every bookmaker and
bedste betting sider around the world.
European football has been synonymous with the talent, the skills and the unique motivation of both players on the field. In any club they’ve been playing, they have absolutely shined, staggering audiences and astonishing football lovers.
But this changed nearly less than a year ago, when Cristiano Ronaldo - amid the Qatar World Cup 2022 - was rumored to be talking with Saudi Arabia
Al Nassr, since his contract with Manchester United was about to expire. The rumor was verified and in January 2023, Ronaldo moved to his new club.
In June 2023, a second major change occurred in the European football scene. Lionel Messi announced that he would leave PSG and move to the US to play for Inter Miami. This was certainly not out of the blue for the professional football world, considering that David Beckham - the all time star British footballer - is one of the owners of the North American soccer team. He would do everything he could to get the club shining. But for us fans, it came quite as a shock.
For one thing, the transfers of Messi and Ronaldo mean that football is about to get serious in Saudi Arabia and in the US.
So serious that many of the bookmakers are now focusing on
promoting relevant betting markets. If clubs are signing huge players like them, pouring ridiculously big bucks into building strong teams, then they are certainly seeing further into their future.
They are trying to advance their presence in the world football scene and so they are recruiting and signing footballers that can get them where they want to go. Messi and Ronaldo can certainly guarantee the clubs’ ascending performance.
But what does it mean for European football?
How does the transfer of Messi and Ronaldo influence European football?
Well, the obvious thing to say is that European football is going to miss its big stars and maybe it’s going to get poorer. But there are some other implications which are not so apparent at first sight.
Messi and Ronaldo have been getting all the attention, regardless of the fact that sometimes other footballers have certainly deserved to receive the same admiration and the rewards as the two top players.
Robert Lewandowski, for example, has had a greater calendar year than Messi in 2021 - scoring more goals than the Argentine forward - but he was not awarded with the Ballon d’Or. Instead it was Messi who got the award, despite scoring 23 goals less than the Polish striker.
With Messi and Ronaldo out of the picture for the European football world, there will now be room for the new generation of talent to shine and stand out. People will eventually get their eyes on footballers other than the two of them and the truth is that this way they will come to appreciate the skills, efficiency and competencies of players who haven’t been able to shine all this time.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been overshadowing all other footballers, no matter how good these others have been. So, we might be talking about a new era in European football - an era where a new generation of strikers, mid-fielders, defenders and the likes will get to stand out and attract the interest of every stakeholder in football - from media and fans to advertisers and marketers. Maybe we are in front of a new era and we are going to witness new stars being born and new talent sparkle.
So, the aftermath of Messi’s and Ronado’s transfers might not be such a bad thing, as everybody thought in the beginning. Maybe all the best things are yet to come and new top-notch footballers are yet to emerge. Maybe this is for the better of European football afterall.
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Lionel Messi profile
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Cristiano Ronaldo profile