Lionel Messi and British club Manchester City have opened talks that would send the Barcelona forward to England for an astronomical $1.2 million USD a week. The two sides are working on a deal that would pay Messi roughly $60 million USD annually, according to the Sun's Shawn Custis and Martin Lipton.
Forty-eight million dollars of Messi's annual salary would be for his play, while the remaining $12 million is allocated to bonuses and imaging rights. And that's just the beginning. Messi's current contract with Barcelona comes with a buyout fee of $377 million, which is paid to the club upon his transfer. According to the paper, Barcelona may be willing to settle for half of the transfer amount.
The relationship between Messi and Barcelona may be deteriorating, according to Mirror Football. Messi feels as though the club might have prioritized the contract renewal of the younger Neymar over his own deal. After a recent injury, Luis Suarez and Neymar stepped up and did an impressive job filling Messi's boots. Suddenly Messi doesn't seem irreplaceable in Barcelona, leaving him to look for situation where he is the main man again.
A move like this is about more than just soccer, it's also a power move, according to Ryan Rosenblat at Eurosport. Acquiring Messi gives Manchester City an international superstar with worldwide recognition, which can help attract outside talent. According to ESPN, the club is said to be targeting current Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola. Acquiring Messi, who played under Guardiola from 2008-2012 in Barcelona, would only entice Guardiola to listen to a pitch from Manchester City.
Deals of this magnitude rarely come together overnight, as there are many details to work through. We will have to wait and see how the talks between Messi and Manchester City develop.
