Messi sent documents to Barca informing of them of his desire to leave and for them to accept a clause in his contract that allows him to leave at the end of the season. However, the date for that clause to be activated has since past and the Catalonians will seemingly only let Messi leave if his 700 million Euro release clause is met, so his future remains unclear.
City have been placed as the favourites to sign. Pep Guardiola has always insisted that he wants Messi to end his career at the Camp Nou and the Cityzens are focusing on signing another centre-back this summer.
Manchester City are weighing up offering Lionel Messi a long-term contract that would see him move to MLS partner club New York City FC after three years in the Premier League, several sources have told ESPN.
They could also offer Messi the chance to become an ambassador for the City Football Group, the holding company that owns a number of clubs across the world, including City and NYCFC.
See tweet below:
Manchester City plan to offer Lionel Messi a long-term contract that would see him move to partner club NYCFC after three years in the Premier League, report @moillorens @RodrigoFaez pic.twitter.com/CLoUOevHpF
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 26, 2020