Barcelona

It’s been a year since Lionel Messi delivered a rare but powerful speech before Barcelona’s Joan Gamper Trophy match against Boca Juniors. It was during that address to the Camp Nou crowd that he promised a return of the Champions League trophy to Catalonia, but that promise was later eviscerated by Liverpool at Anfield. Messi’s pledge was then widely mocked.

The nominations for FIFA's self-indulging award of naming "The Best FIFA Football Awards" for coaches and players were announced Wednesday morning. The winners will be revealed Sept. 23 in Milan at The Best FIFA Football Awards show. Here are the FIFA Best Awards nominees for 2019.

2019 FIFA Best Awards Nominees

Men's player finalsists

 Ready? #TheBest Men's Player nominees:

Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) has been making headlines over the past few months by waging a steady assault on FIFA’s rights to everything in club soccer; most notable was an exclusive deal with Juventus, meaning that the club’s name, badge, kits and Allianz Stadium will only be available in PES 2020 — FIFA 20 players will have to make do with ‘Piemonte Calcio.’

If the big-wigs of soccer are looking at the Forbes World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2019, you can bet your bottom dollar they’re thinking “European Super League.” Back in 2012, only one team across all sports was worth at least $2 billion, that being Manchester United. Now, 52 teams meet that criteria, including almost every NFL team.

After making his Chelsea debut as a 65th-minute substitute against Kawasaki Frontale on Friday, Christian Pulisic was handed his first-ever Chelsea start Tuesday as the Blues defeated Barcelona 2-1 in Saitama, Japan. 

The Premier League isn’t the only competition with deep pockets. La Liga has smashed its transfer spending record just two weeks into the summer transfer window, having already spent $1.13 billion. The previous record of $1 billion was set in 2018, with high potential players such as Thomas Lemar, Malcolm and Vinicius Junior all being sold for over 40 million to Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, respectively.

Following his $135 million transfer from Atlético Madrid to Barcelona, Antoine Griezmann became the fifth-most expensive footballer of all-time. The 28-year-old Frenchman immediately put pen to paper on a five-year contract at the Camp Nou that includes an astronomical release clause of $900 million.

Barcelona activated Atlético Madrid’s release clause for Antoine Griezmann worth $135 million (€120 million) and signed him to a five-year contract with a release clause of $900 million, announcing the signing on Friday. The Griezmann transfer fee is the fourth-highest of all time behind only Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and João Felix, but Atlético thinks it should be higher.