Comparing Lionel Messi’s 2020-21 stats to Man City’s forwards this season

On New Year’s Day, Lionel Messi can start negotiating signing with a new club ahead of his current contract expiring at Barcelona in the summer. 

Messi will turn 34 in June but will undoubtedly have a long list of suitors on account of being the GOAT. The Telegraph report that Manchester City are still keeping tabs ahead of a potential reunion with Pep Guardiola.

But how does Messi compare with what City have already got? Here’s how his stats in La Liga this season compare to City’s current crop of attackers.

Note: we’ve not included Sergio Aguero, because at the time of writing the striker has only played 138 minutes of Premier League football so far this season.

Instead, we’ve looked at Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez and Ferran Torres, all of whom have clocked up at least 500 minutes in the league.

Goals
Lionel Messi – 7
Raheem Sterling – 4
Riyad Mahrez – 4
Gabriel Jesus – 2
Ferran Torres – 2

Assists
Raheem Sterling – 3
Lionel Messi – 1
Gabriel Jesus – 1
Riyad Mahrez – 1
Ferran Torres – 1

Minutes per goal
Lionel Messi – 173
Riyad Mahrez – 192
Raheem Sterling – 272
Ferran Torres – 285
Gabriel Jesus – 315

READ: The top five goalscorers in Europe’s big five leagues since Messi’s debut

Minutes per goal or assist
Lionel Messi – 151
Riyad Mahrez – 153
Raheem Sterling – 155
Ferran Torres – 190
Gabriel Jesus – 210

Chances created per 90 minutes
Riyad Mahrez – 2.9
Ferran Torres – 2.7
Lionel Messi – 2.4
Raheem Sterling – 2.2
Gabriel Jesus – 2.0

Successful dribbles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Lionel Messi – 3.3 (56.8%)
Riyad Mahrez – 2.2 (51.1%)
Raheem Sterling – 2.1 (52.5%)
Gabriel Jesus – 1.7 (56.6%)
Ferran Torres – 0.9 (33.3%)

Lionel Messi makes HISTORY! 🚨

Goal No. 644 sees him overtake Pele 🙌

"Nobody in the history of this wonderful game has ever scored as many goals for the same club as Lionel Messi." 🗣 pic.twitter.com/jXiXB1aQvI

— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) December 22, 2020

Passes per 90 minutes (passing accuracy)
Lionel Messi – 65.6 (85.3%)
Riyad Mahrez – 38.6 (85.5%)
Raheem Sterling – 34 (84.4%)
Gabriel Jesus – 24.6 (81.4%)
Ferran Torres – 14.7 (83.7%)

Shots per 90 minutes (inside penalty area)
Lionel Messi – 6.3 (2.8)
Riyad Mahrez – 2.9 (1.5)
Ferran Torres – 2.7 (1.4)
Raheem Sterling – 2.2 (1.4)
Gabriel Jesus – 2.0 (1.7)