Pep Guardiola signed a new two-year deal at Manchester City.
When the Citizens made it official on Thursday, simultaneously some members of the English media came out with a report stating the English side were ‘ready to go back’ for Lionel Messi in January after a failed attempt in the summer.
At the end of August, The 33-year-old communicated to the La Liga side of his desire to leave Camp Nou, before making a U-turn in September.
His contract with the Catalan club will finish after this season and can join another club on a free transfer next summer, if Barcelona fail to convince the Argentine to sign an extension.
These English reports have been relayed in today’s edition of Mundo Deportivo, and they state Messi’s departure in principle is ‘difficult’ in January because Barca are yet to appoint a new president after Josep Maria Bartomeu’s resignation in October.
The presidential election will take place in January, and Mundo adds, from the Spanish club’s perspective, the star’s departure in the winter market seems like an ‘unlikely option’.
Another report from the same newspaper also states Guardiola’s contract extension will only fuel speculation linking Messi to Guardiola’s side.
Mundo then add City ‘will not go’ for Messi in the mid-season window, but they have ‘not forgotten Leo and the possibility of having the best footballer and the best coach at the Etihad’.
This would hint at City trying to bring Messi to Manchester after the end of the season, and they can sign him for nothing, if the South American decides not to renew his contract with Barcelona.
