The life of a working footballer is necessarily a short one. This life of Lionel Messi began when he was 13, rather unbelievably, and at Barcelona, so that now, 20 years later he is 33. It has been suggested indeed, with some justification, that Messi is a one club player. Of course, he has not been a top level player for Barcelona all that time, and the legal side of his present situation centres on his contract of 2017.
Some great stars continue to play in lesser clubs as they get older, because football is the only thing they know, or the only thing they want to do. Stanley Matthews played until he was 48 years old.
The difference now is that players are paid amounts which defy vocabulary, having long ago gone from phenomenal to astronomical. These amounts are now so out of control and off the radar as to defy descriptions.
Waxing lyrical
Coupled with
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