Manchester City DENY they’ve ‘offered Lionel Messi a contract worth £430m over five years’ with talks yet to open in their chase of the superstar who becomes a free agent this summer
- Reports claimed Manchester City had offered Lionel Messi a five-year deal
- Package is said to be worth £430m, £170m less than their previous offer
- Messi almost left the Nou Camp to join Pep Guardiola at the Etihad last summer
- But City deny any offers have been made and say there are no talks open
Manchester City have emphatically denied reports of a £430million contract offer to Lionel Messi.
Messi, 33, tried to force a move away from Barcelona last summer and has interest from former boss Pep Guardiola at the Etihad – and it is looking increasingly likely he will leave the Nou Camp at the end of the season.
According to The Sun, City offered the 33-year-old a five-year deal worth £600m last summer but have now presented the Barca captain with a new package of £430m.
The report claims the Premier League side are not prepared to match their previous offer due to the financial climate and that Messi is another year into his career.
But City deny those claims, with a spokesperson telling Sportsmail: ‘There have been no offers made, either in the summer or since. And there are no talks’
Manchester Cit denied reports they offered Lionel Messi a five-year deal worth £430million
The forward could be set for a reunion with former manager Pep Guardiola at the Etihad
City and Guardiola continue to show interest in Messi, who is out of contract at the end of the season, meaning his suitors would not have to pay a transfer fee.
Messi is Barca’s highest earner on £500,000 a week (£26m a year) but he and his team-mates took wage reductions in November with the club in a financial crisis.
Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The French side beat Barca 4-1 in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Tuesday with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick.
Messi looked frustrated as the side suffered another damaging European defeat after the Catalans lost 8-2 against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last season.
The report claims City are not prepared to match their previous offer due to financial climate
Messi was left frustrated as Barca were beaten 4-1 by PSG in the Champions League this week
The forward was accused of looking ‘disinterested’ by BT Sport pundit Joe Cole with the ex-Chelsea man insisting it would be a ‘gamble’ for City to sign the star.
He said: ‘Messi looked disinterested. It’s really hard for any ex-player to criticise him because he’s a genius and the greatest player I’ve seen play football but tonight he didn’t look like he was emotionally engaged in the game.
‘You’d have to do your due diligence before you sign Messi. The 34-year-old Messi, if he plays like that it will be a gamble. To take him into a club where Pep relies on energy, enthusiasm, togetherness.
‘It’s a mess at Barca, I don’t know how they’re going to sort it out. I can’t see Messi staying there.
It is looking increasingly likely the Argentine will leave the Nou Camp at the end of the season
‘It’s going to be tough for him to connect into one of these big teams because he’s going to have to roll back the clock and move like he did three or four years ago.’
Barca are also trailing in the LaLiga title race with Ronald Koeman’s side nine points behind leaders Atletico Madrid.
They were also beaten 2-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final with Sevilla with Messi and his team-mates at risk of winning nothing for a second successive year.
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