Yet even without a transfer fee, Messi's colossal salary, reported to be the highest in world football, means very few clubs would be able to afford him.
Jorginho's first-half penalty earned Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Four-time champions and title contenders India stormed into the Super League quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup after thrashing minnows Ireland by a whopping 174 runs in a league game.
Paris St Germain's second-string side were held to a 4-4 draw at struggling Amiens after erasing a three-goal deficit only to concede a stoppage time-equaliser in Ligue 1 on Saturday. The result left PSG 13 points clear of second-placed Olympique de Marseille after manager Thomas Tuchel rested several regular starters ahead of Tuesday's first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Borussia Dortmund.
Chelsea's inability to score a second goal proved costly as Karim Benzema's effort levelled things up
Once again Barcelona's Lionel Messi leads the race for UEFA Player of the Year, 2012-13.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus, with 80 points, are eight clear of Inter Milan with four games each to play followed by Atalanta on 71 and Lazio fourth on 69.
India's women's hockey team had a disastrous opening at the Commonwealth Games, going down 2-3 to Wales in Pool A match, at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre, on Thursday morning.
Liverpool stuttered into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate win over Inter Milan after suffering a 1-0 loss to the Italian side, who were reduced to 10 men, at Anfield on Tuesday.
T Thomas, former chairman of Hindustan Unilever, passed away March 2.
Ousmane Dembele struck early and Lionel Messi converted a late penalty as Barcelona won 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday after Alvaro Morata had three goals disallowed for offside for the Serie A side.
Real Madrid's Welsh winger Gareth Bale has joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for FIFA's Ballon d'Or award.
Opening batsman Chris Gayle has been recalled to the West Indies one-day international (ODI) squad for the first two games of this month's five-match series against England.
Images from matches played across top football leagues in Europe.
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
Rains failed to dampen the famous Rio carnival spirit as this Brazilian city bid an emotional farewell to the thousands of athletes of the world in a colourful closing ceremony to bring down curtains on the 31st Olympic Games.
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold scored with a spectacular strike as they overcame the loss of three players to suspected positive COVID-19 tests and conceding an early goal to beat Newcastle United 3-1 in the Premier League on Thursday.
Paris St Germain believe they can learn from their run to the Champions League final and become European champions after coming closer than ever in Sunday's 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich have won 21 consecutive matches in all competitions and are on a 30-game unbeaten run despite a two-month break in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manchester City moved 17 points clear of the pack with a 3-0 win at Fulham on Saturday
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League group matches played on Wednesday night.
Karim Benzema's hat-trick earned Real Madrid a 3-1 win at reigning European champions Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday. In another quarter-final match, Villarreal stunned six times European Cup winners Bayern Munich 1-0.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from Saturday's Premier League matches.
As we have entered the last month of 2019, here's a rewind of the top moments in November.
England have the chance to reach a first major final since their 1966 World Cup triumph when they take on Denmark at Wembley in Wednesday's Euro 2020 semi-final, but they will need to banish a history of stumbling at this stage.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Last season's top scorer Robert Lewandowski found the net with a 31st-minute penalty to become the first player to score in 10 successive appearances against the same Bundesliga opponents.
Bayern Munich won the Champions League for a sixth time by beating Paris St Germain 1-0 in Sunday's final
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League second semi-final played at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Wednesday.
England's batting line-up imploded in familiar fashion before Chris Gayle inspired the West Indies to a seven-wicket triumph in the fifth and final ODI international in St Lucia on Saturday to ensure the series ended drawn at 2-2.
Roger Federer has made no secret that at this stage of his career, anything he does or does not do on a tennis court is done with the sole purpose of making sure he is in the best shape possible to make another title run at Wimbledon.
While acknowledging Shivaji's naval contributions, questions are being raised about the inadequate acknowledgement of Chola sea-power in southern Tamil Nadu, which dates back by a few centuries, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Levante striker Roger Marti brushed off squandering a penalty to score the winning goal as his side pulled off a shock 2-1 La Liga victory at Real Madrid
Lionel Messi scored twice in the second half to help Barcelona to a 2-0 win over Arsenal in their UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg match at the Emirates Stadium in London on Tuesday.
