Manchester City are preparing to break the bank to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi, reports the Sunday Mirror.
City boss Pep Guardiola is widely credited with turning Messi into the world class player he is today during their time together at Barcelona and the Premier League side are keen to see their pair link up at the Etihad Stadium.
And City are readying a stunning financial package of excess of £200m in order to convince the 29-year-old to swap La Liga for the Premier League.
That would include a world record £100m bid for the player, which would smash Paul Pogba’s £89m switch to Manchester United this past summer.
Not only that, but City would be willing to pay Messi a basic wage of £500,000 a week in order to secure the services of the Ballon d’Or contender.
City remain confident they can land Messi with the attacker yet to put pen to paper on a new deal at Camp Nou and with his current contract running until 2018, they run the risk of losing the Argentina captain for free if they can’t convince him to extend his stay in Spain.
Chelsea and PSG would also likely rival City for Messi’s signature, but only as they have the financial power to lure the player away from Barcelona.
Messi was absent for Barcelona’s 0-0 draw with Malaga due to illness, but he still has eight goals to his name this season, the joint best return in La Liga this season.
For more stats on Lionel Messi, click here to view his WhoScored player page
