If fresh reports from certain sections of the media are to be believed, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) are planning to install a statue of the six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi at their headquarters in the city of El Futbol in Las Rozas. If everything goes as per the plan, Messi’s statue will join the likes of Pele, Alfredo De Stefano and Diego Maradona, who also have their respective statues installed at the headquarters.
According to a report carried by Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona forward’s statue is set to be made of wrought iron and is expected to be put in the Luis Aragonés Hall, next to the statues of the other greats of the game. The report adds that RFEF have still not decided whether the statue will be installed after he has hung up his boots or while he is still playing.
Messi, who is 32 now, had moved to Barcelona in 2000 from Newell’s Old Boys and has gone on to become one of their most important players and perhaps their greatest ever. Messi has donned the club kit for 700 times, netting as many as 614 goals and having 250 assists to his credit.
Although there are reports that Messi might part ways with Barcelona, it is highly unlikely that he may leave the club for any other club at this stage of his career other than his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys.