It couldn’t really be named after anyone else
Spanish football has a tradition of naming awards after players. LaLiga’s equivalent of the golden boot is named the ‘Pichichi’, after Rafael ‘Pichichi’ Moreno, the Athletic Club forward who scored 83 goals in 89 games for the Basque club at the start of the 20th century.
Telmo Zarra is another player immortalised in Spanish football, after MARCA decided to name their award for the highest scoring Spanish domestic player of the season after him. Zarra was another Athletic goal machine; he bagged 277 goals for the club in 251 games for the club over a 15 year spell.
Lionel Messi looks set to join Pichichi and Zarra on that list, as LaLiga chief Javier Tebas revealed that he is considering introducing the Lionel Messi Trophy, which will be awarded to the most valuable player at the end of every season.
Tebas told Goal: “I’d have to think about it, I think Messi is going to be the best player in history, although he already is, Messi has no limits, he’s always at a maximum, maximum, maximum, and he never loses.”
“It would be a good idea to create in the future a trophy to the best player of the season and that bears the name of Messi.”
The Most Valuable Player award was first introduced by LaLiga in 2013, when Cristiano Ronaldo pipped Messi to the award, after the Argentine had won it five years running.
There should be no complaints about the five time Ballon d’Or winner having the award named in his honour, although there inevitably will be.
For a long time now, Messi has been the best dribbler, passer and finisher in the league, blessing fans and neutrals with countless jaw-dropping moments that will make us yearn for his era of dominance in years to come. This is really the least he deserves.
