Manchester City are believed to have decided not to make an offer to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi this summer and instead believe that the six-time Ballon d’Or is intended to sign a new contract with Barça.
Messi is nearing the end of his current Barcelona contract and could leave the club as a free agent in June if it expires without renewal. He wanted to leave last summer, only to be blocked by the club, but will make a new decision about his future this year.
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Messi has the last three months of his Barcelona contract | LLUIS GENE / Getty Images
Barcelona’s decline, which culminated in an 8-2 humiliation in the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich, had led Messi to try to trigger a clause that allowed him to break his contract a year early. But the club hierarchy stood in his way and insisted that the clause was invalid. The only way to break the dead end was through the courts and Messi refused to start a small legal battle.
Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned as president and seemed to remove one of the main problems, and Messi chose to give it another year with an open mind before deciding what to do.
Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been the clubs most strongly linked to the 33-year-old. The latter have been quite open and public with their interest, which may not serve them so well, while the Premier League side would have been more patient and relaxed.
Despite his reputation, however, Messi has never been a priority for City. 90 minutes revealed in February that although the club would be happy to sign him, a new “number nine” striker has always been the main target for next season – Erling Haaland is a priority, but Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane have also been linked to potential transfers.
Man City’s transfer priority is a striker & Erling Haaland is their main target | Lars Baron / Getty Images
SPORT now reports that the desire to prioritize a striker is one of the two most important factors that have motivated City not to make an offer to Messi, who is already allowed to negotiate a pre-contract deal with potential suitors but has refused to exercise that right. .
The city’s interest in Messi has therefore stopped fading as they are primarily looking for a striker.
The second factor is a belief among the city hierarchy that Messi will stop signing a new contract with Barcelona and instead commit to the new chapter at the Camp Nou. City believe that it is a waste of time and inappropriate to pursue the player without any proper indication of being successful and that the attitude would only change if Messi makes it clear that he is interested.
Man City believe Messi will stop signing with Barcelona | David Ramos / Getty Images
New Barcelona president Joan Laporta, whose first term as president coincided with Messi’s first breakthrough more than 15 years ago, is also convinced that a new contract will be agreed.
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