Manchester City Sees Messi Staying At Camp Nou, Barca President Ready To Step Down

Lionel Messi is still trying to get loose from FC Barcelona though the likelihood of that will boil down to money. The reality is that it would take a record sum of roughly $824 million, an amount, not too many clubs would be willing to shell out right now.

One club that has been linked to the 33-year-old player is Manchester City. Even reports were claiming it was the destination he preferred. It also made sense since Messi could reunite with Pep Guardiola. Both were at Nou Camp between 2008 to 2012 and their partnership resulted in multiple titles.

But the reality of it all is that like most clubs, seeing Messi leave Barca seems improbable at least for this summer. Most clubs are dealing with the financial pinch brought in by the COVID-19 pandemic and are working on a limited budget.

"The information I have is that he would be happy to play there but that does not mean he will go there. What we're hearing is that as far as City are concerned, there is still a good chance that he will remain at Barcelona this summer," according to Kaveh Solhekol who spoke to Sky Sports News' Transfer Show.

If not the Sky Blues, a club that could make sense for Messi would be Manchester United. Unfortunately, the main target of the Red Devils is Jadon Sancho. They do have the financial resources though it remains to be seen if United will redirect their attention to Messi.

But the big question now is will Messi leave Barca at all. His relationship with club president Josep Bartomeu is well-documented. But in a new report from AS, Bartomeu is ready to step down with a lot of Barca fans asking for his resignation.

However, Bartomeu has one condition before stepping down. And this is for Messi to go public and say that the president is the main problem of the club. It the Argentine can do that, Bartomeu would resign.

The only problem is that the club will still have the same current board until the presidential elections next year. Though most know the rift between Messi and the beleaguered club president, the problem from within may be beyond Bartomeu.