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Manchester City’s hopes of landing one of world’s best dashed to the ground

By Nikhil Venkat Sai

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gestures on the touchline during the English FA Cup semi-final football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in north west London on April 17, 2021. - - NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by Ian Walton / POOL / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by IAN WALTON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gestures on the touchline during the English FA Cup semi-final football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in north west London on April 17, 2021. - - NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by Ian Walton / POOL / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by IAN WALTON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Ever since Lionel Messi announced his shock desire to leave Barcelona last summer, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been touted as the favourites to land the Argentine superstar. City have largely remained silent on this subject despite being heavily linked with the 33-year-old but PSG have received a lot of criticism from Barcelona for conducting open discussions about the future of Barcelona’s best player.

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It seems those links and rumors may amount to nothing after all as Barcelona have slowly worked their way up to the top once again and now look like a very settled outfit. Having said that, the Blaugrana recently won their 31st Copa Del Rey trophy, and with Messi back to his imperious best, ESPN understands that a three-year deal is being prepared by the Blaugrana with the hope of convincing their skipper to end his career at the Camp Nou.

A three-year deal is set to be offered to the Argentine ace due to the salary cut that he will have to take, given the current financial situation of Barcelona. Joan Laporta will not be able to shell out £75 million annually to pay Messi under current circumstances and the idea is to pay the 33-year-old slowly over a period of three years.

it is also understood that the third year will be an optional one.

Following Barcelona’s Copa Del Rey win, president Joan Laporta revealed that he was convinced that Messi would stay in the club for the seasons to come.

The Blaugrana also understands Messi’s desire to play in the MLS in the ending stages of his career and experience life in the United States. However, the top priority for the 33-year-old currently is to compete at the highest level and Laporta’s mission is to show the Argentine that he would have a team to compete at the highest level.

Next. Barcelona president Joan Laporta looking to secure the future of his main man. dark

The idea is to complete the massively difficult signings of Neymar and Haaland to give an overall attacking boost to the team as the defense is young but growing.

Manchester City are no more the favorites to land Messi as Barcelona look set to keep their best player for at least another couple of years. The likes of Mingueza, Dembele, Fati, Pedri, and De Jong have shown that the current Barcelona team has got a real future.

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