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Lionel Messi’s father has flown to England to try and engineer a move for his son to Manchester City.
On Tuesday, the 33-year old shocked the football world when he announced that he wanted to leave Barcelona, after two decades at the Catalan club. That has prompted a tsunami of speculation as to where he might go next. Although. In reality, the number of clubs that might be able to afford him in the current climate, can eb counted on the fingers of one hand.
However, City are potentially one of them, and there are strong links already between him and some of the people at the club. He knows manager Pep Guardiola and Football Director Txiki Begiristain from their time together at Barcelona, whilst Sergio Agüero is close friend from the Argentina national team.
There is some confusion as to whether any transfer fee would be involved, due to a disputed clause in Messi’s current contract. However, Messi would likely cost City at least £90 million in wages a year, once takes and national insurance are factored into the equation.
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.