#4 How different would his stats be
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Lionel Messi's total number of goals across all competitions for Barcelona from 2008-09 to 2015-16 read: 38,47,53,73,60,41,58,41. This is perhaps the most widely discussed point of conflict: how would his goals tally have fared if he had played in the Premier League?
In this context, it is perhaps necessary to point out first the stellar success Zlatan Ibrahimovic is enjoying at age 35 in the Premier League. Sitting lofty at 2nd position in the goalscorers charts with 14 goals, it is shuddering to think about the impact he could have had at the peak of his career.
Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo also fall into a similar category – considered among the best players on the planet right now, all of them have proven while in the PL that class and quality shines through irrespective of the league it plays in.
Okay, Messi might not have scored 50+ goals season in, season out – but a tally of around 35-40 goals per season seems a realistic expectation. This is, of course, without even mentioning the dizzying assist stats – Thierry Henry would have bid goodbye to his record 20 assists from a single season long time before now.
