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Man City prepare £200m Lionel Messi deal to smash Man United’s world transfer record
MANCHESTER CITY are reportedly preparing a £200million deal to sign Lionel Messi that will dwarf rivals Manchester United’s world record transfer of Paul Pogba.
Rare footage of Lionel Messi's first-ever goal for Barcelona
Manchester United signed Paul Pogba in an £89m deal this summer.
But City want to trump that figure with a deal in excess of £100m for Argentina international Lionel Messi.
According to the Sunday Mirror, City will offer Messi a staggering £500,000-a-week contract to quit Barcelona for the Etihad Stadium.
That would amount to £26m a season for the striker, with a four-year deal earning him more than £100m.
Manchester City could fork out over £200m to sign Lionel Messi
Messi is under contract at Barca until 2018 and the club have called on his father to begin negotiations over a new deal.
Spanish newspaper Sport claim bosses at the Nou Camp are growing worried that Messi could force a transfer next summer - or wait for his deal to run down and then leave for free.
United have been linked with a move for Messi in the past but officials at Old Trafford are said to have given up hope of ever landing the 29-year-old.
Messi is under contract at Barcelona until 2018
Messi (left_ played under new City manager Pep Guardiola at Barcelona
Manchester United broke the world transfer record when signing Paul Pogba (second left) this summer
There were further claims that United approached the Messi camp regarding a proposed transfer before they landed Pogba, who completed his move from Juventus in August.
Messi has a £215m buy-out clause at Barcelona but the pressure to sell him will intensify if he contract enters its final year.
The report claims Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea would also be interested in the four-time World Footballer of the Year if he became available.
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