As Messi Receives Man City Offer, Another Premier League Club Contacts Player’s Father: Report

Manchester United reportedly have contacted Lionel Messi’s father over the player’s potential transfer to Old Trafford this summer.

Messi has been associated with FC Barcelona for almost two decades, where he has led the Spanish side to many trophies including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League titles. Barcelona failed to win a single trophy in the 2019-20 campaign, their first trophy-less season since 2008. That resulted in the sacking of manager Quique Setien and sporting director Eric Abidal.

However, the club suffered the biggest shock when their skipper Messi informed them that he wanted to leave the Nou Camp side this summer. As soon as this news broke, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner was linked with a move to various top European clubs. It is believed that Messi has finalized his decision of leaving the club after his recent chat with Barcelona's new head coach Ronald Koeman.

When Messi previously signed a contract extension with Barcelona, the club had included a clause that would allow the player to leave as a free agent. However, the Catalans say the clause expired in June, while Messi believes he can still trigger the clause because the 2019-20 season was extended further due to the pandemic.

If Messi is unable to leave Barcelona for free, any club wanting to acquire his services will have to shell out at least $660 million for the 33-year-old striker.

It has been reported that Manchester City have offered Messi a five-year deal, where Messi would play in the Premier League for three seasons before heading to Major League Soccer (MLS) to represent Man City’s sister club New York FC for the final two seasons of his contract.

Messi has a great relationship with Man City boss Pep Guardiola, who had managed Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, winning everything possible with Messi and Co. Meanwhile, Man City also have Sergio Aguero, who is Messi’s Argentina teammate.

It won’t be an easy task to sign Messi this summer as the player is being chased by various other elite clubs that have the financial capacity to accommodate the player, who earns $118 million annually in Barcelona.

Credible soccer journalist Tancredi Palmeri has revealed that Man Utd have made their first move in this transfer by contacting Messi’s father Jorge, who is believed to have reached the U.K. to negotiate a new deal for his son.

Messi, who has scored over 700 goals in his club career so far, is into the twilight years of his career and it will be interesting to see where the legendary striker lands eventually ahead of the 2020-21 season.