Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona for Manchester City would help him in the argument over who is better between him and Cristiano Ronaldo, claims former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
It is an age-old debate over who is the better player between the two old rivals.
Ronaldo fans will claim the Portuguese is ahead of Messi because he has proved himself in four different leagues.
Messi, meanwhile, has spent the entirety of his professional career at Barcelona.
Hislop says, in his opinion, there is no need for Messi to prove himself at another club and in another country.
However, he reckons City would be the one club where, if he helped them win the Champions League, it would help him in the Ronaldo argument.
“That’s another aspect that Ronaldo fans can certainly point to, that he’s been able to do it in different leagues,” Hislop told ESPN FC.
“Now, let me state right here, I disagree with that parallel altogether.
“I don’t think Lionel Messi needs to do anything or go anywhere else to prove anything to anybody. When you’re at a big club, as Messi has been for his entire career, I don’t think there is a need to go anywhere else to prove anything.
“That being said, your question asked if Messi had to go somewhere else, where do I think works?
“Once again, with the caveat that I don’t think he needs to go anywhere.
“But if he had to, I’d say go to somewhere like Manchester City.
“If Manchester City don’t win the Champions League this season and Messi joins them in 12 months from now and they go on to win the 2020/21 Champions League, I think that adds to an already impressive CV and offers a counter-argument to Ronaldo and the successes he’s had at his different clubs.”
