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Manchester City Set To Try Again For Lionel Messi In January Window

Manchester City Set To Try Again For Lionel Messi In January Window

Manchester City's interest in Lionel Messi has not gone away.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Manchester City are set to try again for Lionel Messi in the January transfer window.

The Blues were seriously looking at signing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in the previous transfer window after Messi told Barcelona he wanted to leave and issued a transfer request.

In order to avoid a complicated legal battle, the Blaugrana skipper would reluctantly agreed to stay put at Barcelona.

Image: PA
Image: PA

However, with Messi in the final year of his contract at the Nou Camp, The Sun report that City are contemplating going back in for the Argentine.

Barcelona, having failed to agree wage cuts with their squad, are in a dire financial situation with debts of £437 million needed to be cleared.

There is a genuine risk of Barca's all-time top scorer and talisman leaving on a free transfer and so the Catalan outfit may well be better off offloading him in the middle of the season.

It's said City could potentially get him for less than £50 million in a lucrative move that would reunite Messi with manager Pep Guardiola, who he won a famous treble playing under in 2011.

City believe they have the financial capacity to pull off such a huge transfer but there's been talk that may well look for a "more creative deal" whereby Messi is owned by the City Football Group and ends up joining sister club New York City in the MLS for the final stage of his career.

Image: PA
Image: PA

La Liga president Javier Tebas says they are "are ready" for Messi's potential departure but took the opportunity to criticise City, the frontrunners to sign him.

"It seems the only club in Premier League that talks about registering Messi is Manchester City, who compete outside the rules. I am not the only one saying this, he said, as per BBC Sport.

"I am not too worried about them. I have criticised what they do so many times. Doing it one more time makes no difference. City is neither affected by Covid or pandemics or anything because they are financed differently and it is impossible to fight against that."

Meanwhile, a fresh from today claims Barcelona staff were "upset" over Messi staying because they feared more cuts to jobs would be made behind the scenes.

"We were upset when Messi decided to stay," one source who works in the club's offices told Four Four Two.

"Everyone was. We knew there would be more cuts and there were, simply to pay Leo's wages.

"I love him and what he has done for our club and for football, but I love my family and having a job more."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Lionel Messi