Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona for another club is quite unthinkable! But ever since the Argentine superstar’s very public spat with club technical director and former teammate Eric Abidal, rumours about him leaving club FC Barcelona for other green pastures have been doing the rounds with Manchester City – managed by Messi’s former coach Pep Guardiola – said to be leading the race for his signature. And City gave more rife to those speculations by posting a tweet on their official page that linked Messi to the Ethiad. City, along with Juventus and a host of other clubs, have been suitors of the diminutive genius ever since Pep moved to the club in 2016. Lionel Messi Transfer News Update: From Juventus to Manchester City, Barcelona Superstar Could Join These Clubs Next Season.

Messi’s current contract at Barcelona runs till 2021 which clearly means that for clubs to allure Messi and attain his signature, they must pay Barcelona a humongous sum of money while also offering Messi weekly wages in millions. But an interesting clause in the Barcelona captain’s contract allows him to leave for free next summer if he so desires. And although Messi in past had vowed his entire playing career to Barcelona, reports suggest that he could trigger the release clause at the end of this season to join Manchester City. Lionel Messi Rumoured to Leave Camp Nou After Fallout.

Lionel Messi to Manchester City

City, however, is not the only club chasing the six-time Ballon d’Or winner with Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United also said to be in the race for the signature of arguably the greatest footballer of all-time. But it is important to note that among these clubs, City are the only one that could afford to offer Messi a lucrative salary without any second thought. And lighting the rumours more was City’s twitter account which posted an article about Messi’s rumoured transfer to City through its media watch tribune. Read the Full Story Here.

It is common for most clubs these days to run a media watch tribune of their own in which the clubs update their fans about the major news and headlines regarding them in the previous day’s media newspapers. City similarly published an article in which synopsis about Messi’s speculative link to Manchester City was carried out by major media houses. Although it was just a run-through some major news regarding the club on the previous day, City posting the articles on their own site gives more fire to the rumours.

Meanwhile, to make matters more worse at Camp Nou, Barcelona were dumped out of Copa del Rey 2019-20 quarter-finals after a 0-1 defeat to Athletic Bilbao. Things have already unsettled at the Blaugrana club after the sacking of erstwhile coach Ernesto Valverde, the controversial interview of Abidal and the spat between him and Messi. Barcelona are also three points behind Real Madrid in the La Liga points table with 16 league matches remaining.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2020 05:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).