Lionel Messi is a free agent after his contract at Barcelona expired on June 30th.
Late on Thursday, the La Liga side confirmed their superstar’s departure after they failed to register him for next season due to ‘LaLiga regulations’.
Manchester City were keen on signing the forward last summer, but the 34-year-old decided to continue at the Camp Nou.
Sport on Friday explain the Citizens ‘did open the doors’ for the Argentine in 2020.
Messi held talks with the Premier League winners a year ago and ‘saw with good eyes’ the opportunity to play under the orders of his former manager, Pep Guardiola. The deal became complicated because Barca demanded a transfer fee and weren’t willing to let him leave for free.
The English champions invested £100m to complete Jack Grealish’s transfer and are now chasing Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane. City don’t intend to give up on the striker after securing Grealish’s signature
Sport state City will have to make huge investments to complete the two deals, leaving them with ‘no room for manoeuvre’ to land Messi.
Sources from the Etihad have confirmed to the newspaper that ‘they would not make any kind of offer’ to the South American due to the ‘impossibility of investing more money’ in the market. 
