Man City ‘have financial strength’ to sign Lionel Messi, says club’s COO

Barcelona captain demanded an exit from the La Liga club in August but stayed to avoid a legal battle

Arvind Sriram
Saturday 10 October 2020 07:12 EDT
Comments
(AFP via Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester City will be in a position to sign Lionel Messi if the opportunity presents itself next season, the Premier League club's chief operating officer said.

City were the frontrunners to land Messi's services after the 33-year-old Argentine handed Barcelona an official notice in August of his desire to terminate his contract.

However, the six-time world player of the year eventually decided to stay in Spain for the coming season, the last on his current deal, as he did not want to face a legal battle with the club he joined as a teenager and with whom he has amassed more than 30 major trophies.

"He's the best player in the world, he's the best player of his generation. I think any club in the world would like to explore the possibility of him joining their team," Omar Berrada told Manchester Evening News.

"He's probably an exception to potential investments that we'd do...

"But our planning has been done with this current squad and it is being considered with the current opportunities that we have.

"For every single position we have to be prepared because there can be so many things that can happen but, at the same time, I think we have the financial strength and system ability to make that investment when required."

Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in