Chelsea: New attack with Lionel Messi would be otherworldly

The Chelsea offense would be beyond devastating next season if they add Lionel Messi to their already potent and potentially world class attack.

Rumors are rampant that Lionel Messi, the best of the best, wants out of Barcelona. If he is added to the Chelsea attack, the world had better take notice.

The Blues will compete for all the honors next season. Adding Messi gives them an even better opportunity to win them. Messi may be 33 years old, but he is still one of the top scorers in all of football. Last season, Messi scored 25 goals and assisted on another 21 in 33 appearances. That’s still amazing production and for mortals, not named Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s a monster season indeed.

Messi may be slowing a bit but he is still as good as it gets playing anywhere on or near the front line in attack. His versatility in attack is another plus he’d add to any team’s lineup. Some observers will question whether Chelsea “needs” Lionel Messi with all the other attacking whizzes they have added or may yet add this transfer window. The answer to any of those questions is easy; simply put, he’s Lionel Messi and he will take your attack to an even higher level, no matter who the team has now.

Messi is a goal machine and last season Chelsea needed lots more of them. A team can’t ever score too many. Added to Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, and hopefully shortly Kai Havertz, the Blues’ attack will be a colossus. If a team can secure a unique generational talent like Messi, they just go ahead and do it. Pay the price and offload additional players from the squad to make it financially feasible.

As to whether or not Chelsea can or should spend big money on this transfer window, the answer is yes. Being on the sidelines for the past two windows gives them an imperative to spend now to make up for the lost time and shore up the squad.

Being unable and/or unwilling to add players for a year is reason enough. No one felt sorry for Chelsea when they were given a hefty two-window transfer ban (subsequently reduced to one). The lengthy hiatus from spending in two successive windows (one by ban one by choice) allowed the club to replenish its financial coffers by not spending what they usually would. In addition, it sold such players as Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata previously at really good prices.

The inability or unwillingness to spend impacted the team in a negative manner the entire season. They should certainly spend whatever available resources they have to get better now. They have lots of ground to make up on the best of the Premier League and Europe. Their distant finish from the top of the Premier League and their drubbing at the feet of Bayern Munich in the Champions League made that perfectly clear to all observers.

Adding a player like Messi may be a once in a quarter century possibility. When it becomes available and if he wants to join the Chelsea revolution and help bring titles to West London it should just happen. It’s an easy call, just go for it.

And what an attack Chelsea would field if Messi did join. His addition changes the focus of the squad from balanced to a more purely attacking side. A 4-2-3-1 fits with Werner up top, Pulisic, Messi, and Ziyech. Then Havertz as the attacking midfielder along with N’Golo Kante and four at the back with Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva (should he sign), Kurt Zouma, and Reece James.

An even more attacking-minded formation, a 3-2-4-1, might work, as well. Werner could lead the line with an attacking four to follow. Pulisic, Messi, Havertz and Ziyech would do nicely. Backing up the forwards could be Mount and Kante. The back three would be Chilwell, Silva or Zouma, and either Azpiliqueta or James on the right. Both possibilities make ample use of the monstrous attacking talent the team would have at its disposal. While the likelihood of adding Messi is slim, no one should rule it out.

This transfer window is a unique opportunity for Chelsea to jump two levels higher in quality and maybe they already have. Yet, if the team actually has the opportunity, it should take it, sign Messi and never look back.