Just over a fortnight ago, Manchester City were said to be in a prime position to land Lionel Messi from Barcelona.
Lionel Messi has been unhappy at Barcelona for the past few seasons owing to some disastrous performances leading to disastrous exits from the UEFA Champions League and surrendering of the La Liga title to Real Madrid, which happened last season. Barcelona threw away a healthy lead post the resumption of the last season following the COVID-19 break and the lead just vanished in a matter of games which led to the Los Blancos lifting the La Liga title for the first time since 2016-17. Consequently, the 33-year-old placed a request to leave the club but rebuked it amid fears of entering a legal battle with his team. With Manchester City touted as the favorites to sign him for free alongside Paris Saint-Germain, the equation seems to have changed now. Lionel Messi’s future is in the air as in a recently leaked snippet of his interview with La Sexta, the Blaugrana skipper claimed that he was “happy” at the club and is looking forward to the season, as per Catalunya Radio.
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The Argentine claimed that he has calmed down a lot since August and is eager to lift the club from its current position. Having said that, it must be mentioned that in the snippet, no mention about his future at the club was made and it remains to be seen if there is any mention of it at all in the interview which releases on December 27. With the presidential elections coming up, it seems the 33-year-old wants to hear the plans of the new president before deciding on his future. Wages have never been a concern for the Argentine as he is looking to end his career on a winning note, something that he did not find at all in the last season. Many pundits even assumed that the 8-2 drubbing was the final time they saw Messi in a Barcelona shirt.
With things having eased down a bit, Barcelona have got a mountain to climb at two of the major competitions they are a part of, the La Liga and the UCL. In the Spanish league, the Blaugrana is behind the league leaders in Atletico Madrid by eight points but having played a game less, they can cut don the margin to five. They are currently placed fifth on the points table. In the UCL, Barcelona will face a tough task when they take on a well-balanced PSG attack.
However, if there is one positive that they can take away from all this is Lionel Messi’s return to form. The 33-year-old started off slowly but has managed to find some rhythm, having found the net five times in the last seven games that he has featured.
"“I’m fine now. It’s true that in the summer I had a very bad time, for the end of the season and for everything that happened, the burofax … I dragged it at the beginning but now I feel like fighting for everything what we have in front of us. I know the club is in a difficult moment, at team and club level, but I’m looking forward to it. ”Source: Catalunya Radio"
Manchester City will have to do something extraordinary to convince the Argentine playmaker to join their club. It will be a huge boost for the former Premier League champions if Messi comes their way as a Guardiola-Messi reunion is more than enough to lift the coveted UCL title, something that is missing at the Etihad trophy cabinet. With Messi in the current Manchester City set-up, one can expect the depth of the attack to grow by leaps and bounds and a de Bruyne-Messi partnership is something that every football fan would look forward to. Manchester City face a stiff Arsenal test in their next fixture at the Carabao Cup.