I was checking the article from 2020 and they're studying Messi's performance in different seasons however during all these seasons he was playing for Barcelona but this shows us how stable was Messi's performance in the different seasons. But he had this situation until 2020 and now is in 2023 when even Messi's performance is not the same unstable anymore. It will be even worst in the next years.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37583978/ronaldinho-barcelona-understudy-goat-candidate