Messi nearing full fitness ahead of Clasico

There is reportedly interest in Messi from Premier League clubs, though, with The Daily Star recently claiming that Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City all want him.

Also called the Golden Ball, the FIFA Ballon d’Or is an annual association football award handed out by FIFA to a male football player the organization deems as the one who performed the best in the previous year. His preferred option? Well, Arsenal of course.

With 11 matches played, Barca, who are chasing a sixth La Liga title in eight years, lead Real by three points, with Atletico Madrid a further point behind in third.

“I don’t have rivals”, said Ronaldo when asked about Messi.

If the deal were to go through, Messi would be paid £18 million a year after taxes, £2.5 million a month, which would be the most expensive singing in sports history by an enormous margin.

Prosecutors allege Jorge avoided paying tax on his son’s earnings by using offshore companies in Belize and Uruguay from 2007 to 2009.

Both Messi and his father deny wrong-doing.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitic have returned to training and could feature against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on 21 November.

The Argentine has been absent since going off during a win over Las Palmas in September, but has stepped up his recovery.

“I have a good relationship with him, he plays for one club, I play for another club. I am delighted that we could have him for two sessions and that he didn’t have to lose two days of recovery work”, Gerard Lopez added.

Despite Messi’s absence, Barcelona are still top of the standings thanks largely to Neymar’s wonderful goalscoring form.