BREAKING: Manchester City signed Lionel Messi in a ONE year contract
LIVE SCORES
NEWS
TRANSFERS
PREMIER LEAGUE
LA LIGA
CULTURE
BETTING
Messi GuardiolaGetty Images
Brendan Madden
29 Nov 2023 17:24+01:00
Revealed: Lionel Messi offered himself to Man City & met with Pep Guardiola in Barcelona after handing in shock transfer request at Camp Nou in 2020
L. Messi
Inter Miami CF
Transfers
Barcelona
P. Guardiola
Major League Soccer
Manchester City
Lionel Messi met with Pep Guardiola to discuss a move to Manchester City in the summer of 2020, a new book has revealed.
Article continues below
Furious Messi demanded Camp Nou exit
Met with Guardiola and discussed City move
Barca held player to huge exit clause
Lionel Messi Barcelona 2020-21Getty Images
WHAT HAPPENED?
Messi memorably sent the term ‘burofax’ trending across the planet and triggered an institutional crisis at Barcelona when he demanded to rescind his contract. According to Marti Perarnau’s new book, God Save Pep, Messi’s interest in joining City was relayed via a WhatsApp message from Sergio Aguero saying that his international team-mate had enquired how long Guardiola remained under contract for. There was then a direct exchange between Messi and Guardiola which led to a meeting at Guardiola’s home in Barcelona.
The pair are said to have had a frank exchange with Guardiola impressing on his former player how hard the training regime was in Manchester and warning his former protégé about the city’s notoriously rainy climate. According to Perarnau, Messi remained adamant that he wanted to leave.
Advertisement
Lionel Messi PSG Lyon 2022-23Getty Images
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Ultimately, the conversation proved to be academic, with Messi unable to legally extract himself from his contract having made the request behind the stipulated deadline. Barcelona stood firm behind the player’s €700m (£605m/$767m) release clause.
Messi eventually agreed to stay for the final year of his contract, announcing his decision in an exclusive interview with GOAL. A year later, Messi’s contract expired with the club hamstrung by La Liga’s financial fair play rules and unable to offer new terms. However, it was Paris Saint-Germain and not City who were able to strike a deal with the player.
Pep Guardiola Bayern Bundesliga trophyGetty Images
DID YOU KNOW?
The author of the new revelations Marti Perarnau, has previously been given unprecedented access to Guardiola. For his 2014 book, Pep Confidential, the writer spent an entire season shadowing Guardiola at Bayern Munich.
WHAT NEXT FOR LIONEL MESSI?
With MLS currently on its winter break and no internationals scheduled until next year, Messi has some rare time to put his feet up and maybe even read Perarnau’s new book.
Goal.com
Contact Us
Terms of Service
Privacy policy
Careers
Goal App (Android)
Goal App (iOS)
Goal Live
Betting
ngNigeria
Nigeria (English)
Copyright © 2024 Goal All rights reserved. The information contained in Goal may not be published, broadcast, rewrit
ten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of Goal
Leave a Reply