Former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has said that both, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s moves to PSG and Manchester United were not “sensible.”
He also said that the players should have gone for a less competitive league. Messi and Ronaldo both left their respective clubs in the summer of 2021.
However, both superstars have had inconsistent seasons and have been knocked out of the Champions League. And Anelka, a former Premier League striker, has slammed both Ronaldo and Messi for their summer moves.
The former Arsenal, Chelsea, and Real Madrid striker – whose own career ended in India – stated the world’s top two players were not intelligent in their decision-making at the end of their career.
While talking to RMC Sport, Nicolas Anelka said:
“This is what happens to players who want to play longer. Their careers are over and I think they must both be very happy with what they have achieved in the last 15 years. They were above the others and now it is normal for them to slow down.”
“I was more surprised with Messi than with Ronaldo, I thought that Messi would turn around in France and Ronaldo would have more difficulties in England because, for me, the Premier League is the most demanding championship in the world.”
“They were not intelligent. They should have thought of facing a less complicated challenge because you have to make the right decisions to finish at the top. There are players who don’t hesitate to finish at 32, 33, 34 so as not to be criticized. I stopped at 36, but at 32 I went to China.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s summer move to Manchester United was welcomed with jubilation by fans, but things haven’t gone quite as planned for the Portuguese superstar at Old Trafford, with Ralf Rangnick’s team fighting to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Ronaldo has scored 18 goals for Manchester United this season which is still pretty good numbers considering that the club has struggled to score more goals.
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Meanwhile, Messi’s transfer from Barcelona to PSG came as a shock, with the Catalan giants unable to afford to maintain the Argentinean due to his huge salary demands.
He has only scored two league goals for PSG this season, and the French club was also eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid.
Even though both the players are missing that magical touch, they are still showing top-level mentality even in the final few years of their careers.
We are truly lucky to live in the Messi-Ronaldo era.
