Speaking recently on the Why Always Us? podcast, The Athletic’s Manchester City correspondent, Sam Lee, discussed the club’s links with Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
In one of the more dramatic transfer stories of the summer, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner announced that he wanted to leave the club with whom he has been playing since making his debut as a 17-year-old back in 2004.
In an interview with Goal, the 33-year-old said: “I told the club, including the president, that I wanted to go. I’ve been telling him that all year. I believed it was time to step aside.”
Manchester City were subsequently linked heavily with a move the Argentine, with some reports even suggesting that the player and Pep Guardiola had been in contact with each other regarding his potential move to the club.
However, after a rather confusing saga regarding several clauses in his contract, Messi eventually announced that he would be remaining at Barcelona for a further year, with his contract with the Catalan club set to expire next summer.
On the Why Always Us? podcast, Lee was asked whether he thought there was a possibility of City making a move for the £100.8 million-rated man in the not-so-distant future.
He said: “Yeah, in the same way that in 2017, when [a move for Messi] didn’t happen, they went back now. The thing is, normally [when] we’re talking about these transfer sagas, they’re normally [around] July, then you’ve got six months until January, but January’s not that far off from where we are now.
“So, if there’s no development before the transfer window closes in October, if this wasn’t a play from Messi to still get out but do it on his terms – which, I admit, stretches the bounds of reality a bit – you would think that, because it’s not like from January 1, City would ring up and say: ‘Your contract’s ending in six months, do you want to talk?’ – they’d probably be staying in touch.”
Do you ever see Messi joining City?
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TIF Thoughts…
From Lee’s comments, it would certainly appear as if the journalist is of the belief that City will indeed go back in for Messi around January-time, when they can approach the 33-year-old about signing a pre-contract agreement.
While it is likely to be disappointing that it looks unlikely fans of the club are going to get to see Messi wearing the light blue of Manchester City this season, Lee’s comments are surely a good sign for a potential move for the Argentine in the future, which, in our opinion, is incredibly exciting news indeed.