Lionel Messi joining Wrexham is 'possible' claims football finance expert

Football finance expert and professor of economics at Sheffield Business School, Dr Rob Wilson, believes a move to Wrexham for Lionel Messi is 'possible' amid developing interest in the EFL from overseas.

Eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi joined the David Beckham-owned MLS franchise Inter Miami last year, enjoying a relatively successful period in the States thus far.

However, American ties with the EFL are becoming ever-stronger with global megastars in the form of Ryan Reynolds and Tom Brady owning shares in Wrexham and Birmingham City, respectively.

As documentaries and pre-season tours continue to engage American audiences, Wilson believes player migration between UK and US audiences could become more common.

“What we might see, where US investors are involved in both MLS teams or USL teams, and those in the EFL, so we might start to see more player migration, more movement," Wilson explained.

"More Americans playing in the US off-season would actually see an increase in the value of the US market quite significantly as we demonstrate that pathway, and of course the pathway then works with European players playing in the US."

When discussing the prospect of Messi moving to the UK, Wilson refused to rule out an EFL deal but raised doubt on how much commercial sense would be in a Premier League transfer for Messi.

He told Action Network: “It’s possible you might see Lionel Messi, in his later years, loaned to Wrexham given their US interests. But the reality is he is playing in the MLS because the pace of the game is different to what we experience in England, certainly, so I don’t think the commercial opportunity for him would exist if he were to move over to the Premier League. I think the pace of the game, at the elite end, would be too quick for him.

“Not to say he couldn’t do it, but we saw the experiment with Cristiano Ronaldo and the drop-off that we saw there. So by giving him additional space and time because he is such exceptional player in a slower division like the MLS has really maximised Messi’s impact. I don’t think he would see the same in the UK, I don’t think a player of his quality would like to drop down the league system to provide himself with the time and pace to excel.”