For many years, people wondered if Lionel Messi could ever come to the Premier league. The Argentine genius is now in the last phase of his brilliant career, and fans are desperate for him to light up grounds across England.
And now, those prayers may get answered but just not in the way that anyone could have imagined. The fiasco in Catalonia has created shock waves across the world. The images of young and old being dragged away by the police from voting booths has created outrage across the globe, as Catalonia wishes to separate from Spain.
Things escalated to such a degree that Barcelona’s last match against Las Palmas was forced to be played behind closed doors. It was an eerie sight, as the historic Nou Camp had no spectators to watch Messi and co weave their magic on the pitch.
And now, the Barcelona President has confirmed that the club could possibly look to play outside La Liga, with the Premier League being a distinct possibility.
“In the case of independence, Catalan teams in La Liga – Barcelona, Espanyol and Girona – will have to decide where they want to play: in the Spanish league or a neighbouring country like Italy, France or the Premier League,” said Figueras.
“Now in Spain there teams from other countries who play in national leagues: clubs from Andorra in football and basketball.
“Monaco play in France, in England Welsh clubs. I don’t think that Uefa has anything against seeing another club play in a different league from their country.”
Premier league manager, Arsene Wenger though does not feel like such a decision would be easy to make.
“If Barcelona want to join the Premier League, it makes things even more difficult for everybody.
“I don’t think they have gotten as far as that. It is interesting and there will be incidents on the sporting side as Barcelona are a highly political club. I think it will be interesting to see how they respond in the championship.”
