Messi to run down Barcelona contract and join Man City in 2018?
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We’ve heard it before and we’ll almost certainly hear it again, but Lionel Messi has been linked once more with a move to Manchester City. Only this time, the Citizens could get the Barcelona wizard for free.
Spanish outlet Marca this week claim that Messi will run down his contract with the Catalan giants, paving the way for a free move to Manchester, for a probable reunion with Pep Guardiola.
The potential move stems from the court case in Spain regarding Messi’s taxes.
It’s believed Messi has already made the decision to quit Barca, and indeed Spain, with suggestions that the pursuit of him by Spanish tax authorities have forced him to seek football elsewhere.
And since Pep Guardiola was announced as City boss earlier this year, a potential reunion has been talked of among the gossip columns ever since.
By the summer of 2018, Messi would only just be turning 31 and there’s little reason to suggest the Argentine couldn’t produce another three or four years of his wonderful talent.
But Man City won’t be the only club hoping to secure Messi’s services.
A return to his boyhood club of Newell’s Old Boys can’t be ruled out, and indeed Carlos Tevez and Juan Roman Riquelme are just two South American stars to call early time on their European adventures to return home.
Paris Saint-Germain will also be another contender, while the Chinese Super League would make a major statement if they could land a player of Messi’s stature.
The same would apply to MLS, while Juventus and Bayern Munich could also become potential destinations.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
