MESSI CLOSE TO BEATING PELE ALL-TIME RECORD

It is well known that with 643, Pele holds the record for most official goals scored for one club. But Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is closing up.

He is currently at 603, meaning he needs 41 goals to set a new record. But how soon can that happen?

Unfortunately, Leo is currently injured. But all the same, it looks like almost every footballing record will belong to Messi by the time he retires, and when you put it like that, you understand how lucky we all are to witness him play week in and week out.

Although the Argentine has said several times in the past that he doesn’t care about personal achievements, the amount of goals he has scored over the past 15 seasons with Blaugrana is staggering.

Currently, the 32-year-old has 603 goals scored for Blaugrana, which is actually the second-best record of all time. Only Pele with 643 goals for Santos has more, meaning Leo has to score 41 goals to beat the Brazilian legend to yet another impressive achievement. Considering his previous seasons, the forward could well reach the milestone already this season.

According to Spanish publication, Tribuna, Messi’s record over the last three seasons:

• SEASON 2018-19: 51 goals in 50 games
• SEASON 2017-18: 45 goals in 54 games
• SEASON 2016-17: 54 goals in 52 games

Those were however, only goals in official games. A big chunk of Pele’s career goals came in friendlies.

Unfortunately, the Argentina international is currently out with a calf injury. However, we should expect him to start banging goal after goal once he is back, especially considering reinforcements brought by the club over the summer.

Antoine Griezmann  and Frankie de Jong will for sure make it easier for Leo.

However, Josep Maria Bartomeu also revealed in a recent interview that Messi is free to leave whenever he feels like it, as there is an option in his contract allowing the player to terminate it every summer on June 30. Let’s at least hope that Lionel beats Pele’s record before it happens.