It's hardly surprising that Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed last month that the Spanish club were preparing for life without talisman Lionel Messi.
"I know one day Lionel will say he's retiring," he told BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily.
"We have to prepare the club for the future.
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"We are bringing great young players to the team because we need to continue this era of success. That's our responsibility."
Bartomeu is not the only one to recognise how important the Argentine ace is to the sport, with José Mourinho recently saying that Messi and fierce rival Cristiano Ronaldo "will not last forever."
Well, Mourinho, you could be wrong there.
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According to a specialist in genetics, it could be possible to "clone" the 31-year-old Barça forward.
Yes, you read that right.
Arcadi Navarro told Mundo Deportivo that it would be possible to make a "twin" of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner with the current techniques at their disposal.
"Yes, you could clone Messi with the current techniques," he told the Spanish newspaper.
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"We would get a being very similar to Messi, the result would be a Messi twin. As if two twins were born and we would have frozen it for 20 or 30 years."
While you're at it, Mr Navarro, fans would love if you did the same to Ronaldo so that we can keep this football rivalry going on forever.
Both Ronaldo and Messi are currently on international duty for Portugal and Argentina respectively.
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The Argentina captain is preparing for his side's upcoming friendlies against Venezuela and Morocco -- the latter having some interesting clauses for the match -- while the Portugal captain has Euro 2020 qualifiers against Ukraine and Serbia.
Would you want to see a Messi clone?
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Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football News, Jose Mourinho, Football, Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Lionel Messi, Portugal, Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo, Barca
