Simon Jordan, former owner of Crystal Palace, has laughed off the idea of Lionel Messi and Neymar playing in the Premier League.
News about both their departures from Paris Saint-Germain has been making the rounds of recent. Messi’s case is due to the player being linked with a return to Barcelona as well as a rift between him and the club’s hierarchy thanks to an unsanctioned trip he took to Saudi Arabia in late April.
For Neymar, it is a culmination of seasons of disappointments in his injury record and his inability to help the team win the UEFA Champions League, which they brought him in for.
Both their times are up at Parc De Princes and as expected, the rumour mills have been set in motion. Neymar has been linked with Manchester United and most recently Chelsea while Messi has not been linked with any clubs.
However, the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner has always been a dream acquisition for many Premier League clubs and it is believed that some may approach him ahead of his PSG exit.
Jordan, who was once on the board of a club making these decisions, has laughed off the idea of both superstars playing in the Premier League, calling it a circus. The businessman, who spends his free time doing punditry with English football radio talkSPORT, believes that the talents of Messi and Neymar would light up the league but that they would bring too much baggage with them.
Speaking on his talkSPORT One 2 One show, he said: “Neymar is a remarkably talented player.
“I think he represents a generation of players at times that I don’t particularly admire in terms of their show ponies – marvellous ability, wonderful ability, but he seems to be a handful at times.
“And Messi, well Messi is at the end of his career. First of all, you’ve got the obligation of the wages, and people will make a pass about it and say, ‘well £500K, £600K, £700K-a-week is what goes with the territory.’
“But it’s preposterous, it’s preposterous. And we just accept these things with some sort of flick of the hand, ‘that’s Lionel Messi, he’s well worth it.’ No, he’s not.
“So coming into the Premier League at this stage in his career, the argument always raised about Messi, ‘could he do it on a wet Tuesday evening against Stoke?’ Well, that is an argument that was raised when he was in his pomp, it’s not going to change now is it? Because he’s a declining force. He’s still a remarkable player.”
Jordan then went on to talk about how Messi has not done much for PSG while putting further emphasis on Neymar’s proneness to drama.
It remains to be seen where both stars will end up but Neymar is closer to a Premier League move than Messi is at the moment.
