Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, and Cristiano Ronaldo: Where are they now?

Lionel Messi: Argentinian soccer star

Lionel Messi bid a tearful farewell to Barcelona in the summer of 2021 ending his 21-year association with the football club as a free agent to join the Ligue 1 giants club Paris Saint-Germain for a two-year contract with an optional extension of a third for a whopping 104-million-dollar deal.

The breaking news that every Barcelona fan was dreading and hoping such a day would never come to life, but alas after twenty-one years at the Camp Nou, 672 goals in 778 appearances, 10 La Liga titles, 4 Champions Leagues, 7 Copa Del Reys and 6 Ballon d’Or, Messi’s time in Catalonia had come to an end.     

Over the last few seasons where the Argentinian footballer was still in Barcelona, the club relied heavily on him to play his magic and with Xavi and Andreas Iniesta out of the picture, the reliance only grew stronger with the seasons. With his departure, the club will not only be impacted on the football pitch but has been publicized that they were in a financial crisis; the main reason why the Catalan club could not resign Messi upon his contract expiry on June 30. Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta said that trying to keep Messi “could have put the club at risk for 50 years”. 

Many have surmised about whether or not Messi has been enjoying his life in Paris; his start to the club was in the footballer’s standards disenchant with a total of seven goals and nine assists in his 2022 Paris Saint-Germain appearances. Given the circumstances, many believe that it is only natural; the French league is different from that of the Spanish one, and getting to know one’s teammates and coach poses an imminent factor in the role of any footballer let alone the Argentine. He has reassured the public in several press conferences that he is happy and enjoying playing alongside some of the top football players.

Even at the age of 34, it was Lionel Messi whose magic lit up the Wembley stadium putting on a stunning performance for Argentina as the Copa America champions thumped the European champions Italy 3-0 in the finals; a completion between two of the most sought-after teams in the football world.

Mohamed Salah: The Lord Mayor of Liverpool

On the field, he is a winger who plays as a striker, a goal scorer of sublime quality and uncommon consistency. Salah marked his arrival at Liverpool in 2017 by breaking the record of goals scored in a 38-game season, scoring the most goals by a single player. As the Premier League's highest scorer, Salah was then awarded the Golden Boot.

The following season, he led the team to its sixth Champions League title; the year after, the club won the Premier League title for the first time in 30 years.

Salah has been underappreciated throughout his career, having been dropped by Chelsea and twice being overlooked for the Team of the Year, including in 2018–19, when he was the league's joint-top scorer. There's a long-held, unsubstantiated belief that he's selfish, that he shoots too much, or that he's more interested in individual glory than team success.

Liverpool’s latest 0-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League finale rendered a painful end to the Egyptian footballer’s season after also losing the Premier League title with Liverpool and the African Nations Cup final with Egypt. Using Twitter to share his thoughts and feelings, he stated: “I cannot express in words how much we wanted to bring that trophy back to Liverpool but in the end, we couldn’t. I cannot thank the fans enough for your support. It has been a very long season but a part of me wishes the next one starts again tomorrow”. The 27-year-old Egyptian winger managed to finish the Premier League with the biggest number of assists.

Cristiano Ronaldo: The goal machine 

Throughout his illustrious career, Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo has been a prolific scorer and a dominant force in countries like England, Spain, and Italy. The footballer has made us reassess the definition of what a great player is and what a great player does. In fact, the rate of improvement that he has given to the art of goalscoring should have taken decades or centuries.

Ronaldo was arguably enjoying the finest season of his profession in 2013-14; by the midpoint of the Liga season, he had managed to score 22 goals, plus an extra nine in the Champions League. Unfortunately, his patellar tendinitis knee injury forced him to miss some weeks in February and April, plus three weeks more in May, prior to hurrying backside for the Champions League final.

"Scoring goals is a great feeling, but the most important thing to me is that the team is successful."

Cristiano Ronaldo said that he expects the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be his last international tournament with Portugal and he is happy that the showpiece is being held there. Ronaldo is Portugal's all-time top scorer with 55 goals and will soon surely become their most capped player as he is just five appearances away from surpassing Luis Figo's record of 127.

It isn't sufficient to say that the Portuguese footballer has taken a huge part in the game; as a matter of fact, he has successfully changed the game, and it will be very difficult to find a player who could match him in the near future.