If he was to leave Barcelona the hierarchy at Manchester United have admitted
defeat and have conceded that bitter cross town rivals City would be favourites to
sign Lionel Messi
At the moment Messi and Barcelona are at a impasse over a new
mega-deal that would pay him £825,000-a- week, which would make the Argentine
superstar by far the best paid player on the planet.
Recently Messi's main rival as the world's greatest player, Cristiano Ronaldo has
recently signed a new five-year £365,000-a- week after tax deal with Real Madrid
wages are growing, Welsh wizard Gareth Bale has agreed to stay at European
champions Real Madrid for three more years to earn £350,000-a-week after tax with
€1bn buyout clause
To tie up two of the world's best forwards Real Madrid have
agreed to contracts worth more than £600,000 a week before tax.
To put this in perspective for Manchester United, who could afford the sum if they
had to, the current highest paid player in their squad is France international Paul
Pogba who is earning £290,000 per week until 2021
The second richest player is
England captain Wayne Rooney on £260,000-a- week until 2019.
A source from Old Trafford explained “City would be the favourites if he were to one
day leave, but we would obviously love to sign a player of that level
We can
certainly compete on the cash front and Messi is an Adidas player like Paul Pogba,
so we have our pluses
But all the same, we would not get involved in any bidding
war unless Messi’s camp gave an indication that he was willing to come here.”
Despite the ability to afford the Argentinian ace should he be available, club chiefs
believe the biggest hurdle is the lure of Pep Guardiola and this would give City the
edge in the race to sign the five time Ballon d'Or winner from the Catalonians
Messi
is the latest in a number of stars the Blaugrana have been trying to sign to longer
contracts
So far Neymar and Mascherano have penned new contracts and Suarez
is close to agreeing terms as Barca fight off the Premier League's big money clubs
The Argentine striker has scored an incredible 433 times in 456 appearances during
his time at the Nou Camp and made his debut in 2004
He has amassed a
warehouse full of trophies including four Champions League and eight La Liga's and
of course five Ballon d'Or's.
However, the big point is whether or not he ever leaves the only club he has ever
played for at senior level
It is a massive "if" and of course there would be interest
from PSG and the super rich Chinese clubs
However, City would have the edge with
Guardiola and CEO Ferran Soriano both former Barcelona men who Messi knows
well.
However Barcelona are not too worried, President Josep Maria Bartomeu is
convinced Messi will agree to a new deal and stay at the club
He said recently “all of
Barca believe this is how it has to be, because he is the player that in the last few
years has brought us sporting success
I believe we've got a team with incredible
players, all of them
There is nonetheless a leader of course, Leo Messi, he is well
known and popular all over the world
We're all convinced, we're all positive Leo
Messi will end his sporting career in Barca.”
Source : DSG
Source: DSG