Man City ready to smash world record and pay £275m fee for 5-time Ballon d’Or winner

Manchester City are reportedly prepared to activate a £275m (€300m) buy-out contract clause for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.


A tweet by Yahoo Sport France suggests that Pep Guardiola is ready to do everything to bring the Argentina captain to England and reignite the relationship that brought them so much success at the Nou Camp.

According to talkSPORT, Messi has yet to sign a new deal with Barcelona, despite informally agreeing to a deal last month with former club midfielder Xavi openly stating he feared for his future.

New boss Ernesto Valverde has had a baptism of fire since his summer appointment, with Neymar leaving his side for £198m to PSG, per The Daily Mail, and then suffering a 5-1 aggregate humiliation to El Classico rivals Real Madrid in the Super Cup.

Guardiola has spent almost £200m already this transfer window, bringing in Ederson, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy.

Messi, who turned 30 last month, scored 54 times in 53 games for Barcelona last campaign as they won the Copa del Rey.

He was uncharacteristically pictured foul-mouthing Sergio Ramos during the Super Cup defeat on Wednesday .

The attacker has won the Ballon d’Or 5 times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015).

The likelihood of City pulling this move off may seem low, but judging by this transfer window’s transfer fee’s tied in with the disgruntlement surrounding Valverde and the Nou Camp, it’s fair to say it can’t be totally ruled out.