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Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona this summer – and Manchester City could be a potential destination for the six-time Ballon D’or winner.
The 33-year old has been unhappy at Barcelona for some time and is reported to be unhappy about the direction the club is taking under president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The final straw was Friday night’s 8 – 2 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon, with Messi cutting a disconsolate figure as he trudged from the pitch afterwards.
He has one-year worth on his current deal with the Catalans, with a buy-out clause believed to be in excess of £600 million. However, there is also a clause which allows him to leave the club at the end of every season.
There are few clubs in the world that could afford his fee or wages – he earns close to £1 million a week. However, City are one of them, and it would mean reuniting Messi with Pep Guardiola, the pair having won three league titles, two Spanish Cups and three Champions League titles whilst they were together at the Camp Nou.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.