Lionel Messi has long been touted as a player City take a keen interest in, for obvious reasons, and now it looks like the Barcelona hierarchy could be starting to concede they may not be able to keep him, after director Ariedo Braida spoke to Esport 3, a Spanish TV channel.
Rumours about Messi’s future have escalated further than most people could have predicted over the last month, with speculation about his relationship with Luis Enrique taking the forefront. City and Paris Saint-Germain have been the two most frequently-linked, however other teams like Chelsea and Bayern Munich have also been mentioned.
Speaking of Messi, Braida said “I believe it’s very difficult that Messi will leave Barca but at times in football strange things happen.”
“Now with these clubs that have so much money like City, certain amounts don’t seem to have a value.”
“In football things happen that appear impossible but I hope he will remain. Sometimes strange things happen.”
Whilst those quotes don’t necessarily mean anything, they could indicate Barcelona aren’t sure how much long Messi will be plying his trade in Catalonia. It would take a massive amount of money to prise him away from the La Liga side, but with faces like Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain already involved with the club, anything is possible.
