With the news that Lionel Messi is parting ways with Barcelona, every football fan can briefly indulge his fantasy that Messi will want to join a wind swept, dour English team. For a fleeting moment you can imagine that he will want to trade sunny Spain for getting kicked up and down your local pitch.
Remarked one fan: 'He could go to PSG or Chelsea but I suspect he'll plump for Gosport. We've got one wooden stand, a spare ball and all the pies he can eat'.
Another said: 'Our pub team can always use someone a bit nippy'. Said one Akela: 'There will always be a place for young Lionel, in our under-9s cub team. But he will have to supply his own woggle'.