Manchester City prepare to snare £164m Lionel Messi in world-record transfer MANCHESTER CITY are ready to launch a world- record bid for Barcelona star Lionel Messi. If City wants to pay 170m for Messi then that was fine, if I where Barcelona MD and CEO then I will cash in for that world record fee because messi I think is finished. So how would that get round the FFP rules? Dont tell me that Blatter and Platini are full of bull and UEFA are actually toothless? Who would have thunk it? Reports in Spain claim Manuel Pellegrinis side have prepared an eye-watering £164million offer as they look to bring one of the planets best players to the Etihad. City owner Sheikh Mansour has been keeping tabs on Messi since taking control of the Sky Blues in 2008, and feels the time is right to go after a player some believe to be the greatest of all time. The four-time Ballon dOr winner has been in good form for the Catalan giants this season, scoring 40 times in 43 games under Gerardo Tata Martino. However the Argentinian international has suffered a number of injury setbacks, and has occasionally failed to produce his best in Barcelonas poor La Liga and Champions League campaigns. Messi has struggled to reach the same heights that saw him score 73 goals two seasons ago, and many pundits believe he is stalling on a new contract in the hope that a move to one of Europes emerging giants materialises. Oil-rich Paris St-Germain have also been linked with the talismanic forward, but City believe their former Barcelona duo Txiki Beguiristain and Ferran Soriano can convince Messi to link up with fellow countryman Sergio Aguero and set the Premier League alight. Barcelona could be tempted to cash in as they attempt to rebuild their ageing squad and replace veterans including Carlos Puyol and Victor Valdes. Giving the green light would also allow Brazilian golden-boy Neymar to take centre-stage after failing to impress since joining from Santos for £50million last summer.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 05:55:06 +0000
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