Only a small part of football fans do not know that in the past "Manchester City" offered an unbelievable financial life to Lionel Messi, in order to join their project.
"El Mundo" revealed the whole story of how negotiations went for Messi's signature. It is said that the attempts took place not so long ago - from December 2016 to November 2017.
At that time, Messi had a release clause of 250 million euros, which the owners of "Manchester City" could afford without major financial difficulties, having supplemented the club's coffers with 2.7 billion euros over seven years.
It is claimed that three persons took part in the negotiations - "Man City" CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak, former "Barcelona" vice president Ferran Soriano, and Messi's father Jorge.
It is emphasized that during the negotiations Messi's father was promised a bonus of up to 50 million euros if he convinced his son to agree to the conditions offered by "Man City" and work together with Pep Guardiola again.
Messi's father was the first person to inform the "Barca" management about the intentions of "Man City." However, Jorge Messi categorically denied this information.
According to "El Mundo," Messi's attraction to the English champions would have cost a total of 755 million euros, including contract, transfer fee, and other behind-the-scenes details. What is practically impossible for any other club, was just a part of the project for the billionaires-owned "Man City," which only needed the approval of the player himself.
Interestingly, the negotiations took place at a time when there was a huge turmoil in Catalonia due to the political situation, which hindered Messi from the very beginning. The Argentinian had a fairly favorable period to leave, but even the urging of his father and incredible financial opportunities did not stop him from signing a new contract with "Barcelona" in November 2017.
