Ex-Reds icon John Barnes believes FC Barcelona will not attempt to sign either of Liverpool FC’s star duo of Mohammad Salah and Sadio Mane to replace contract rebel Lionel Messi, who is nearing a move to Manchester City.
The Argentine forward handed in a transfer request at the La Liga giants last week and is rumored to very close to signing for Pep Guardiola’s side ahead of the 2020-21 season. Messi’s exit from FC Barcelona will leave a huge void to be filled by the Camp Nou outfit on the attacking front this summer.
However, both Mane and Salah, who have established their respective credentials as world-class forwards in recent years, will not be eyed by the Spanish club, expressed the former English international. According to Barnes, Messi’s style of play is a critical difference between the 33-year old and the Reds’ star players, something that would be duly noted by FC Barcelona.
“You can’t replace Lionel Messi. Barcelona can’t replace him with Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah because they are different types of players, you’ll have to come up with a different solution to how you want to play and whether Ronald Koeman would like that type of player, we don’t know.
Barnes further termed the Argentine superstar as ‘irreplaceable’, despite Sadio Mane reportedly being on the Blaugrana’s shortlist for this summer’s transfer window. The former Reds’ attacker dispelled the concern shared by the Merseyside club’s fanbase of losing out on their star players to the La Liga outfit.
“You can’t look to replace Messi with one player, it’s impossible as there is no player like him. What he has to do is come up with a formula, you can’t replace Messi like-for-like, so I don’t think that’s going to be an issue for Liverpool.”
