Football is prone to coughing up quite incredible scenarios that would've been hard to fathom some years before.
Who would have thought that the man who delivered Chelsea's first Premier League title would be in charge of Tottenham Hotspur 15 years later? Who would have thought Manchester United would go nine years without a Premier League title before relying on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to restore former glory? And who would have thought that two unproven youngsters sold by Chelsea - Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne - would later sign for direct rivals before holding the records for most goals and most assists in a single Premier League campaign?
Despite the absurdity of those occurrences, Lionel Messi moving to England to play for Manchester City would probably top the lot.
The six-time Ballon D'or winner and arguably best player to ever play the game is legitimately linked with a move to Manchester this summer amidst speculation that he's seriously unhappy at Barcelona.
A transfer would be truly incredible and would shake the footballing world to its core, but what exactly would Messi's presence add to Pep Guardiola's outfit?
The 33 year-old is very obviously inclined to deliver goals and assists on a consistent basis to an extent that he's essentially performed to a superhuman level.
Over the course of his La Liga career, he's scored 444 goals while registering 183 assists for his teammates. Once considering the amount of time he's spent on the pitch, that equates to a scoring contribution every 62.3 minutes for over a decade.
How many points is a player who scores over 20 goals per season worth? Well, Messi hasn't dropped below the 23-goal mark since 2007/08.
Manchester City already dominate the large majority of matches in England's top-flight, outshooting their opponents by a figure of roughly 11 attempts per match based on their numbers last season.
Messi - according to his time in Spain - is worth about eight shots per match on his own considering his average of over five shots per 90 combined with his 2.5 shot assists per 90.
Every now and then, when Guardiola's men struggle to unlock an opposition defence, Messi ability to generate openings out of nothing would prove to be invaluable. Four of their nine losses in the Premier League last season involved City failing to find the net.
There are questions attached to his age and whether he's worth such drastic short-term adjustments in order to be accommodated, but those will have to be answered by Guardiola and his recruitment team.
Ultimately, the dynamics of the league would radically alter if Messi was to make the switch to Manchester. The Argentine would almost certainly restore City to the top of English football and perhaps beyond, although the long-term impacts of adapting for him aren't so attractive.
