The 33-year-old – who has a one-year contract at Camp Nou – has expressed a preference for leaving Catalonia following the club’s humiliation through Bayern Munich.
And the Citizens would be in pole position to point to the Argentine international, he would meet Pep Guardiola.
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Speculation about his long career intensified over the weekend after Messi rejected coronavirus tests in Barcelona.
There he even reports that Messi spoke to Guardiola where he told him he thought he could win two Ballon d’Or titles at the Etihad.
And now the Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri has assured that the City is willing to pay Messi 450 million pounds for years.
He even advised the club to pay him a bonus of 225 million pounds (A$408 million) after 3 years in England, where he would then sign for the sister club in New York.
Palmeri did not say how much the City would pay to Barca to secure its services.
He tweeted: “Boum,Manchester City would pay Messi five hundred million euros ($808 million) for five years!
“The salary would be 50 million euros (81 million Australian dollars) in line with the season, after 3 years at the City, there would be a bonus of 250 million euros (404 million US dollars) transferred in the last two years to New York.”
Palmeri also told his 203,000 followers that Messi’s father, Jorge, will meet this week with Barca technician Josep Maria Bartomeu to discuss his future.
Pump! It Manchester City pagherebbe Messi from five00m to five years!The stipendium sarebbe di five0m a stagione, ma dopo i 3 anni al City scatterebbe a bonus gives 2five0m s trasferendosi gli ultimi due anni to New York City!
He said: “The president of Barcelona, Bartomeu, and Messi’s father will meet on Wednesday.”
Messi had hoped to leave the club for a move loose this summer due to a clause in his contract, but LaLiga rejected his request, keeping his 630 million pound termination clause (A1.14 billion dollars) intact.
The Spanish media reported that the City was preparing a contribution of 89.5 million pounds (A$162 million) for Messi, while also providing Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesús and Eric García del Barca.
This article was first published on The Sun and reproduced with permission.
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