Manchester City Chief Executive Ferran Soriano has said that the club would always be open to signing Messi if the opportunity arose
Speaking after Manchester City’s heavy defeat to Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, Soriano said :
“Messi is the best player in the world. If one day he wants to come to City, we would open the doors wide for him.”
According to the The Daily Mail, he also said that City had a good working relationship with the Catalans, which meant that any transfers between the two clubs would go smoothly and without controversy :
‘With Barca we talk often. We have a good relationship with (president Joesp Maria) Bartomeu. Before the summer we met and we spoke about the players that were of interest to us so that agents didn’t trick us.’
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Guardiola had also indicated that he would be interested in signing the Argentine should he ever choose to leave Barca. However, that doesn’t mean much considering any manager in the world would make the same claim if posed the question.
Guardiola did, however, deny that there was any contact between the two clubs regarding Messi, and Soriano echoed that statement.
Messi bagged a hat-trick against his former manager’s side in Barcelona last night, as Manchester City suffered a 4-0 loss to the Catalan giants. Former Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo was the villain on the night, having been sent off for a deliberate handball outside the area which was a result of him trying to make amends for a horrible pass that he played straight to Luis Suarez.
Manchester City will face off against Messi and company once again in less than a fortnight’s time, and will be hoping for a different outcome against Spanish champions.