Manchester City Can Afford £275million

Tudor

Tudor

Vital Football Legend
They said Neymar would never leave Barcelona. €222m (£197m) later and he's now at PSG. They say Lionel Messi will never leave Barcelona and guess what? He's STILL refusing to sign a new contract.

So, what on earth is going on?

http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=584557

Fantasy?

Twelve months ago I would have said it was. In fact, when Pep Guardiola was introduced to the City fans he said Messi would remain at Barcelona until the day he retired from playing professional football. But now circumstances have changed.

Would City bid €300m (£275m) for Lionel Messi?

Well, there is never any smoke without fire.

As for me...

There is clearly Barca unrest and so, if Messi believes the clubs future rests solely on his shoulders then in my opinion and if a bid comes in, bearing in mind he's still pissed about having to go to a Spanish Court for alleged tax fraud allegations then yes, he could be a City player by this time next week.
 
Is it just me or does the fact we are even having this conversation seem unreal (pun only slightly intended).

On the plus side he is the second best player in the World (after Merlin of course - who did you think is #1!) but in the debit column would he have any resale value?

It might be nice to have the top three players in World football on our books (Aguero since you ask) but it just smacks of Steve Daley and our Former Number 10 all over again.

We don't need to do this.

 
Having spoken to a Rayo Vallecano pal earlier today down in deepest Madrid, I think it's on and he'll make his debut in the third round of the FA Cup at Coventry.

 
kennyclementstache - 23/8/2017 18:09

Is it just me or does the fact we are even having this conversation seem unreal (pun only slightly intended).

On the plus side he is the second best player in the World (after Merlin of course - who did you think is #1!) but in the debit column would he have any resale value?

It might be nice to have the top three players in World football on our books (Aguero since you ask) but it just smacks of Steve Daley and our Former Number 10 all over again.

We don't need to do this.
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We definitely don't 'need' to do this, but whether we 'should' or whether our club 'wants' to do it is another matter. For me, if there is any possibility of bringing Messi to gods own club, we should be all over this, and do everything we can to make it happen
 
Word is that Messi will run down his contract and make his City move next summer, on a FREE.
 
Which, if true, means we could get him this week for substantially less than the £275m clause :048:
 
Am I right in thinking that Messi is currently in negotiations with Barcelona over a contract extension?

I haven't really been following the story.
 
Yeah, he's supposed to have 'agreed' a new deal but hasn't signed it yet !!!
Apparently he's not happy with the current boards plans, particularly around signings to challenge Madrid, and of course, losing Neymar hasn't helped. I think this is why there is a growing belief that a move may be possible. Of course, he may get the guarantees that he's looking for, and sign the deal :069:
 
Probably mate, but I do get the feeling, for the first time, that he may actually be considering a move :077:
 
A 26yo Messi, hell yes let's do it. But not at 30. His powers are starting, or will shortly, start to wane. If he comes on a free, then we can justify his wages.
 
If we are being used as a sort of bargaining chip then there is only us, Real, the rags, PSG and...that's about it who can afford him, I mean he's unlikely to pitch up at Goodison or the Britannia? Take Everton, Stoke, Real and PSG out of the equation then it's probably between us and the rags, Jose vs Pep. If we were to distance ourselves might he be keen to speed up the negotiating at Camp Nou...

A reason for leaving might be a genuine fresh challenge - with the sale of Neymar, Iniesta getting older (and Messi too) the golden days of Puyol, Marquez, Alves, Xavi et al are unlikely to return - a big four year contract and the chance to be reunited with Pep might be an attractive proposition.

If we were to wait 12 months and sign Messi and Suarez for nowt would we still be ruining football or would it be looked upon as creative and prudent housekeeping, something other clubs could learn from?

And in any case, the #10 jersey is already taken - assuming the #6 is taken by the lad from Albion that leaves the #11 - is Messi fit to follow AKA13's well trodden path...?

 
BamaEngineer - 24/8/2017 16:41

A 26yo Messi, hell yes let's do it. But not at 30. His powers are starting, or will shortly, start to wane. If he comes on a free, then we can justify his wages.
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I think that this is the only likely option, his huge sign on fee and wages will be covered by marketing gains. Will it happen, I don't think so. A front three of Sanchez, Kun and Messi would score a few.
 
Messi on the end of the sort of 'challenge' handed out last Saturday by Bournemouth's Cook on Jesus? Ivan just see the average, journeymen PL defender slavering at the opportunity to send Lionel into the stands with one of their trademark "welcome to the Premier League" hits. "Not so clever now are you with all your fancy footwork" they chuckle as they walk back past Mike Dean who doesn't bat an eyelid given his standards "excessive force" or "endangering an opponent".
 
Skoorb - 30/8/2017 07:23

Messi on the end of the sort of 'challenge' handed out last Saturday by Bournemouth's Cook on Jesus? Ivan just see the average, journeymen PL defender slavering at the opportunity to send Lionel into the stands with one of their trademark "welcome to the Premier League" hits. "Not so clever now are you with all your fancy footwork" they chuckle as they walk back past Mike Dean who doesn't bat an eyelid given his standards "excessive force" or "endangering an opponent".
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This is true - and we (and Messi) are fortunate not to be playing in the 70's days of Harris, Hunter, Smith, Doyle etc - can you imagine? I'm not sure todays 'hard men' are quite in their league!

Although great players like George 'Georgie' Best, Rodney Marsh and Frank Worthington just got up and got on with the game, no doubt Messi would too.

 
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