Manchester City chiefs confident Barcelona could sell Lionel Messi

Posted Sunday, March 19, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Manchester City chiefs confident Barcelona could sell Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is wanted by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City

PEP GUARDIOLA wants to sign Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi this summer to spearhead his rebuilding of Manchester City.

And a deal to bring five times World Player of the Year Messi,29, to the Etihad Stadium might not as far fetched as it seems.

Messi is out of contract at the end of next season and is struggling to agree a new set of terms which could lead to his departure from the club this summer.

Barca can only spend 70 per cent of their income on wages and have given new deals to a number of players including Luis Suárez and Neymar.

And they are bulking at the £650,000 a week demands of Messi who earns almost £20 million a year close to £400,000 a week after tax.

Talks have been dragging on for the last year without any agreement and Manchester City bosses are confident that Barca might be prepared to do business.

Guardiola is preparing for a mass clear out of players this summer with as many as 18 members of their squad at risk of being axed.

He will be given at least £200million to spend on transfers plus whatever they raise their sales which could be more than enough to tempt Messi from the Camp Nou.

Any deal for Messi would also pay for itself in a matter of months through shirt sales as he is famous Barcelona number 10 shirt is the best selling in the world.

Currently City don't even feature in the top 10 best sellers and signing Messi would provide a massive boost to their commercial income.