Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano says the club “would open the doors wide” for Lionel Messi to join, but admits the Argentinian will likely see out his days with Barcelona.
City reportedly sees itself as a front-runner should Messi one day opt to leave Catalonia, particularly with his former manager Pep Guardiola at the Eastlands helm, and the diminutive forward showed his class against the Premier League leader with a hat trick in Wednesday’s Champions League group meeting.
Related – Watch: Messi welcomes Pep back to Camp Nou by netting hat trick
Messi made immediate improvements in Guardiola’s first season in charge of Barcelona in 2008-09, lifting his league scoring record from 10 goals under Frank Rijkaard to 23 strikes and a deluge of individual awards in the following year under the new City boss.
An additional pawn City could use is Messi’s close friendship with compatriot Sergio Aguero.
“Messi is the best player in the world. If one day he wants to come to City, we would open the doors wide for him,” Soriano said, according to DÃdac Piferrer from Marca, with translation from ESPN FC.
He added on the …read more