Source
If I'm not mistaken with the year, it was 2016 when Manchester City made a huge move in acquiring Lionel Messi. They can in fact agree to pay if Barcelona wants to sell their superstar at 200 million. There's a lot of speculation that Messi will consider to transfer but FC Barcelona clearly is not interested with the offer and immediately put a sign : NOT FOR SALE.
It is clear that FC Barcelona doesn't want to let go of Messi. As per interview, the reason why Messi considered to transfer was because of the tax fraud he was facing. He felt that Spain didn't recognize him as an important player. He brought light to Spanish football and in fact brought lots of trophies for FC Barcelona including Champions League titles. He was also awarded with lots of individual titles that brough La Liga to limelight.
Source
Well, the reason why Manchester City has high hopes of acquiring Messi that time is because of deep ties with their manager Pep Guardiola who was with Messi during the glory times of FC Barcelona. Everybody was hoping that Messi will continue his winning legacy with Pep as his former manager. Good glory times happened when they were together with Barcelona and it would be tempting to a player like Messi to reunite with Pep.
If Messi did accept the offer, I think Barcelona is still stumbling in all competitions. Looking at Barcelona's line up right now, it is clear that Messi is the foundation of their attack. Xavi and Iniesta who both have departed ways with Barcelona due to age (and taking advantage of their value) have lost in terms of creativity in the midfield.
Source
For more football updates and sports related talks, click the "Follow" button and support me by clicking that upvote button.
