Messi brandished ‘fraud’ by some African fans

Is the Argentina superstar's broader legacy being affected by his toils in Ligue 1?

by Ayomide Oguntimehin

After leaving Barcelona, Lionel Messi is having a tough season at the Parc Des Princes, and African football fans have begun to question whether this is affecting the Argentina superstar's broader legacy within the game.

In comparison to his statistics at Barcelona, the seven-time Ballon D'Or winner has only scored three times in his domestic league outings for Paris Saint-Germain.

For the Catalan giants, the experienced attacker scored over 600 goals and provided over 200 assists.

Messi's low wattage in Paris has elicited a variety of opinions from sports fans, with some referring to his past accomplishments at Barcelona and comparing him unfavourably to Cristiano Ronaldo.

“[We] should be more concerned about Messi struggling to reach 3 goals this whole season,” write @ActiveGooner. “One man moved to the toughest league in the world at 37 & bagged 15+ goals & the other got exposed as a Fraud in the farmers’ league.

“Most international goals & Euro winner too.”

According to @banky3banky, If the Argentine striker does not score 10 goals this season, he will have no choice but to label him a fraud.

“If Messi doesn’t score 10 goals this season then he’s truly a fraud,” he wrote.

Another sports fan contrasted Messi's performance this season to Mason Mount’s, who he says has performed far better than the forward so far this season.

@sneakerNyame_ began: “Mason Mount has four goals in three matches. Messi has three goals in a league season. Now we know [who] the real fraud [is]?”

While Messi’s long-term nemesis Ronaldo has come in for intermittent criticism during his return season at Manchester United, the Portugual superstar’s goal haul this term compares favourably to Messi’s

“Ronaldo keeps proving with every match why Messi is a fraud,” wrote @dedap_, while others have suggested that the Argentine superstar wouldn’t have been able to cope with the Premier League had he—like CR7—moved to English football.

For another supporter, Messi’s toil in France, where PSG nonetheless remain 15 points clear at the top of the table, does nothing to undermine his standing as superior to his long-term rival Ronaldo.

“Anytime that fraud [Ronaldo] scores, he and his fans will advert the whole of the week and ghost for another few matches then surface another time he scores again. Lol,” wrote @EmkayDabozz.

“Why always wait until he scores before you lots remind yourselves he’s your GOAT. Messi scores or not he’s the GOAT.”

Comment below and let us know whether you believe that Messi’s struggles in Paris are denting his footballing legacy.