Liverpool legend John Barnes says Barcelona icon Lionel Messi isn’t suited to the Premier League as he may not have time to adapt to the physical nature of the division at the age of 33.
The Argentine looks set to end his long and illustrious spell at Camp Nou after handing in a transfer request.
Barca have been in decline for years and the footballing icon hasn’t won the Champions League since 2015.
Messi could land in the Premier League, with reports suggesting that he has agreed a five-year contract with the owners of Manchester City and New York City FC, in which he would spend three seasons in England and a further two in the MLS.
However, Barnes can’t see the forward fitting in well in England’s top flight.
‘Lionel Messi is 33-years-old, he’s not the same player he was,’ the former England winger told BonusCodeBets.
‘Particularly coming into the Premier League it’s a hard, physical league where he’s not playing for Barcelona in terms of being used to playing with those same players for the same way for the last 15 years.
‘He then may take time to adjust, people take time to adjust to him, you may not have that time at 33-years-old.
‘I don’t think that Premier League football will suit him.
‘He will inhibit your big players, like when Antoine Griezmann went to Barcelona, he was inhibited, Philippe Coutinho was inhibited because it was all about Messi.
‘It’s fine for it to all be about Messi when’s he’s 25, 26, 27, but at 33-year-old he isn’t the powerhouse that he was, so to then write all your players off as being subservient to Messi wouldn’t be the right thing to do.’
