Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has tried to explain why so many Barcelona players keep being linked to the club.
On Monday, we covered an article in Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo stating Pep Guardiola had failed to land four players from Barça, who reportedly were Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets.
“We haven’t made any offer to any Barça player”, Soriano revealed, saying those behind the stories tended to be the representatives: “There are agents who call Barça saying they have an offer from City and then Barça call us asking if it’s right”.
Asked about the Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu, Soriano said they have “a good relationship, the same we have with Juventus, Bayern or Real Madrid, and when there are conflicts, we call them. It was impossible before, but now we do”.
Moving onto the hot topic that is Lionel Messi, the official couldn’t hide the club would be excited about the opportunity: “If someday he wants to come to City, we’ll open the door wide. We won’t call, but if he calls us, we’d certainly get him on the phone”.
Yet, he knows the chances of that happening are slim, saying “it would be natural for Messi to end his career at Barça”.
Soriano had a long career at Barcelona, where he was the Economy Vice President from 2003 to 2008.
However, when questioned if he plans to go back to the Catalan club one day, he said this possibility is ruled out as his work there is already done.
