Knocking Pele off his perch is not a bad way to let people know you’re still around.
When Lionel Messi notched his 644th goal for Barcelona against Valladolid on Tuesday he eclipsed the legendary Brazilian’s record tally for a single club.
Pele’s total of 643 for Santos, between 1956 and 1974, had stood unchallenged for 46 years. Many people thought it would stand forever.
No one else had come anywhere near it. Not Maradona, not Puskas and not even Portugal’s Ronaldo, who reached the 700 mark recently, albeit for a quartet of different clubs as well as his country.
Toss in Messi’s 71 for Argentina and he’s above that anyway.
It was a timely strike by the little man, coming after he’d gone under the radar since his big strop about leaving had come to nothing.
He’d been playing, although not as well, and had even gone two or three games without scoring – not just a drought but climate change by his teeming standards.
He’d also sulked at the prospect of becoming a part-time water-carrier for Ronald Koeman. A water-carrier does what it can, a genius does what it must.
But lately, there had been signs he was getting his appetite back. The odd goal, the odd assist, even a smile on his face.
Those little legs were scurrying again, demanding the ball. He was no longer going through the motions.
Barca watchers are putting it down to the emergence of some genuine young talents from the academy who have rekindled the maestro’s interest.
One of them, Pedri, back-heeled the ball to set up the landmark goal for an historic assist.
With others such as Riqui Puig and Ansu Fati breaking into the first team, some are daring to hope that the new generation can somehow persuade Messi, 33, to stay on and lead the club into a new era.
As ever at the Nou Camp, it may depend as much off the field as on it.
Next month there’s the election of a new president and opinions differ from those who think Messi should have been sold (acting president Carlos Tusquets) to raise funds to those who will move mountains (Joan Laporta) to keep him.
January is also when he’ll be free to negotiate with other clubs and leave for nothing in the summer.
After his cathartic interview in August saying he was desperate to go, it would require some U-turn for him to stay. And there’s no shortage of suitors: Inter Milan having joined Manchester City and Paris St Germain in offering him a place to spend his dotage.
The prospect of being the father figure to a new generation of budding stars might just appeal. Ironic, indeed, for a shy kid who was once known as el mudo, the mute one.
He has always spoken more eloquently with his feet and might just fancy a fresh challenge in the autumn of his career.
Most players like to prove themselves as more than one-club loyalists and relish the stimulation of pastures new. It can sometimes lead to an unexpected Indian summer.
And in both Paris and Manchester there are old friends with whom Messi can renew acquaintances.
He never wanted Neymar to leave Barca in the first place and break up the vaunted MSN partnership, and is known to want a reunion.
After all, the Brazilian was brought in as his ultimate successor and if he could be persuaded to return, that could swing it.
But Messi also has a fondness for Pep Guardiola whose enlightened coaching was the making of him. Together they inspired the greatest era in the club’s history and a reprise of that in Manchester could be tempting.
City is also where he would feel at home with a Catalan hierarchy and ex-Barca bosses as CEO, Ferran Soriano, and director of football, Txiki Begiristain, running the show.
It may still be difficult to imagine the little maestro on a wet, windy afternoon in Manchester but City have the added pull of being able to offer him a long-term future.
First at New York City, a sister club, and after his playing days – an ambassador role for the City Football Group of a dozen clubs around the globe.
But Messi’s first love is Barcelona, to whom he owes not just his career but a normal life, and inherent in that record is loyalty.
It could well be that becoming a role model for the next generation is enough to change his mind – and enable him to pay true homage to Catalonia.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.