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LONDON - Lionel Messi left FIFAs awards ceremony without a personal accolade again. Collecting a copy of FIFAs weekly magazine on the way out might have been worthwhile if he really needs to convince Barcelona of his ongoing value.Flick through to Sepp Blatters musing, and the FIFA president declares: Barcelona would scarcely have become the gold standard in European football without Lionel Messis 400 goals.Such an ego-boost will hardly make up for seeing Cristiano Ronaldo collect the Ballon DOr for the second successive year. With commercial strategies now as scrutinized as the coachs tactics in football, the perception is that Real Madrid was more active lobbying for Ronaldo than Barcelona was for its four-time Ballon DOr winner.Messi hardly gave the perception of being a loyal Barcelona employee when he faced the cameras in Zurich. Rather than just responding to the inevitable question about his future with the usual declaration of loyalty to the club that turned him into one of the best players of all time, the Argentina captain seemed intentionally ambiguous.I am not sure where I will be next year, said the academy graduate under contract at the Camp Nou until 2019.Nobody knows what the future holds. Much less in the case of the football world, where so many things can change overnight.Thats particularly true when Messis relationship with the Barcelona board and coach Luis Enrique is reputed to be far from harmonious. Occasionally even a player as gifted as Messi needs to be indulged, not just in his pay packet.Hes not as straightforward as he used to be, Esteve Calzada, former Barcelona chief marketing and commercial officer, told The Associated Press. He would say, Barcelona is my own team. I will retire here. Something went wrong ... hes older, maybe prepared to listen to other things. I find it difficult to believe he will spend his whole career at Barcelona.The all-time top scorer in the Champions League is undoubtedly coveted, but when you are the most talented player alongside Ronaldo your freedom of movement becomes limited.There are the four years remaining on his contract and a 250 million-euro ($295-million) buyout clause. Then factor in Messis ability to command an annual gross salary of 50 million euros ($59 million). A club could need the ability to cover 500 million euros ($590 million) over five years to fund the signing of the 27-year-old forward — a potential cost on the balance sheets of 100 million euros ($118 million) a season.In European football, that is far tougher with clubs losses restricted under UEFAs Financial Fair Play regulations. English clubs have the edge potentially over Barcas other European rivals because of the wealth generated from Premier League and Champions League television revenue.For any club thinking of buying Messi, there would be some eye-watering numbers to consider, said sports lawyer Daniel Geey of London-based Fieldfisher. There are only a few clubs that have such deep pockets.Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain with their UEFA imposed FFP spending restrictions would be hard placed to finance such a transfer, yet it may not be beyond the realms of possibility for Chelsea, Manchester United or Bayern Munich to finance such a deal through profits made, selling existing players or finding additional revenue streams to cover such expenditure.Why, though, would Barcelona contemplate selling Messi? Particularly when the end of the season sees early presidential elections at the fan-owned team. Also factor in that any fee received in the summer transfer window could not be reinvested until 2016 due to a ban on any transfers imposed by FIFA for breaching rules on signing minors.For the current board it would not be good for them to go to the election with the fact they would be selling the best player in the club history, Calzada said. And what would they do with the money?In the absence of the usual campaign pledges to sign players, extending the Argentines contract could become an election tool.The official word from Barcelona on Wednesday was that Messi is not for sale.We all think that Messi will be at Barcelona for years to come, that is what all (Barcelona fans) want, Enrique said. We dont contemplate a squad without Messi.One day, of course, that will come. Whether that is at the end of his career or when Barcelona finds an opportune moment to cash in on his brilliance might not become clear for a few more years.Barcelona is a very demanding environment, said Calzada, chief executive of London-based Prime Time Sport, which represents players and advises clubs. His type of play is based on speed. As he will get older, he will not always be the best player in the world.___Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.wholesalenfljerseysclearance.com/ . While Chelsea stayed two points behind leader Arsenal courtesy of Etoos hat trick, seventh-place United slipped 14 points from the summit this weekend. And the gap from the Champions League places is growing as well, with Liverpool six points ahead in fourth. NFL Jerseys Clearance . Power had a two-lap average of 218.896 mph in qualifying Friday at the high-banked, high-speed 1 1/2-mile track for his 34th career pole. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . The CFL unveiled its 2014 schedule Wednesday and the Redblacks will play their first-ever regular-season game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on July 3.In his first official practice round at Augusta National, Graham DeLaet got in a great cram session, playing 18 holes alongside Mike Weir. As they walked off the first tee, Weir opened his book of course knowledge to his fellow Canadian, telling him to ask him about anything and everything. For the next four hours, the two talked about the humps and bumps and hills and swales of the famed course, with DeLaet trying to drink in as much information as he could ahead of Thursdays opening round. "It was nice to have Mike kind of showing me around," said DeLaet. "He was giving me guidance on a few things that other players had given him, guys like Jack (Nicklaus) and Freddy (Couples) and stuff along the way. Thats one of the cool things out here that guys kind of pass things along. You go to a regular tournament and guys kind of keep things secretive. But for whatever reason, out here you just kind of pass the torch along. Any time I asked, he was more than happy to point out a few things along the way I wouldnt have known about." And few people know the course better than Mike Weir, who is making his 15th start here this week. However, the 2003 champion cautioned DeLaet that many of his references were specific for his game, not the long-bombing power style that the Weyburn, Sask., native plays. "I wasnt overloading him because our games are so different," said Weir, who thrilled fans by jarring in his tee shot on the 16th hole during the round. "He has more power, hhitting shorter irons into greens, while Im probably playing more for position.dddddddddddd. He can be more aggressive. I told him to be mindful of that. Im telling him out how I play it because Im back there hitting a four-iron." For DeLaet, the chance to play at Augusta National with Weir was more than an exercise in local knowledge, it was also the chance to play with one of his golfing idols. In 2007, when he teed it up in the Canadian Open for the first time, DeLaet managed to get his picture taken with the lefthanded star. Its a picture he keeps hanging on his wall at home to this day. "He was the guy I looked to when I was a kid," admitted DeLaet. "Now I call him my friend. Going around here, the respect he gets from the crowd – and rightfully so – is pretty cool." Now DeLaet has to take all the information and put it to use. His caddy, Julien Trudeau – who also raved about the details Weir passed on – said he and his boss will sit down and formulate a game plan for their opening round. That game plan will also try to take into account the butterflies that will undoubtedly be in DeLaets stomach when he gets set to start his first Masters. "I know that Im going to be nervous, Im nervous at the Byron Nelson tournament," he stated. "I do have a couple of majors under my belt now which is going to help a little bit but I dont know exactly what Im going to feel like on (the first tee) on Thursday but Im looking forward to it." ' ' '