Again this year, some clubs and websites insisted on making a few jokes on April 1st. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Czech fans when it was announced that Lionel Messi had made an unexpected move to Real Madrid – including a photomontage in the Madrid shirt.
April Fool’s joke: Lionel Messi joins Real Madrid
“I wasn’t happy at PSG. I didn’t like the local environment and lost my appetite for football. When Florentino Perez called me, I didn’t know how to answer. But then I realized that I wanted to go back to Spain after all. Barcelona can’t afford it financially at the moment and that came to my mind as the second best option,” Lionel Messi was quoted here by fotbalprtal.cz as saying. He is said to have joined Barcelona’s rivals for €130m and earns €50m a year there.
Madrid club president Perez was quoted by the website as saying: “We were surprised that Messi accepted our offer. We thought long and hard about who should strengthen our attack. We wanted to buy a famous name, Mbappé or Haaland came to mind first. But when I heard Messi wasn’t happy in Paris, I called him and offered him to play for us. “It hasn’t been easy negotiating money with PSG, but it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Perez said.
Julian Nagelsmann was also the victim of an April Fool’s joke
And Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, who is currently on leave, was also the victim of an April Fool’s joke this year – SG Denkershauses posted a photo montage with Nagelsmann on their social media on April 1st. In this photo, the manager of the village club could be seen at Nagelsmann’s side, who is said to be the new coach of the women’s team there. And there was even a video for which the Bayern coach’s old statements were edited together: “It feels good. I’m very, very happy. Of course, I’m really looking forward to the new season, to the preparations – even if they have slightly different requirements. But it will be exciting preparation, an exciting first season for me. I am very happy to be here and I feel good.”
Later, Nagelsmann chatted with the village club, as Nagelsmann praised the April Fool’s joke: “Good April Fool’s joke! Article and video mega creative” and a salmon mily behind it. However, this answer was also just a photo montage and Nagelsmann himself did not comment on the joke.
