Here are your Manchester City headlines for the evening of Saturday August 29.
Next 48 hours crucial for Messi’s future
The next 48 hours could help to decide Lionel Messi’s future, reports the MEN’s Stuart Brennan.
Having dropped a bombshell on Barcelona by handing in a transfer request earlier this week, Messi has now asked for an urgent meeting with the club hierarchy. Though they are only monitoring the situation as things stand, Manchester City are waiting in the wings.
Barca are standing firm on their position that there is a £630million release clause which would need to be met to extricate Messi from his contract. Messi’s legal representatives have argued that a clause which allowed him to leave on a free transfer before June 10 should be extended given that the season was prolonged on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
Reports in Spain suggest that the club hierarchy have turned down Messi’s call for a meeting, leaving him to make the next move.
While many have interpreted Messi’s transfer request as a political statement intended to topple club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, it’s more than just an idle threat. City feel that Messi is open to a reunion with Pep Guardiola, though Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Inter Milan also look set to compete for his signature.
Agent ‘90 per cent sure’ Messi will stay at Barcelona
Despite the turmoil at Barcelona, the agent who helped to bring Messi to the club as a teenager feels that he is most likely to remain at Camp Nou.
Josep Maria Minguella has suggested that Messi’s lawyers have made a miscalculation in attempting to exploit the clause that could have seen him leave for free before June 10.
“They’ve jumped into the swimming pool,” he said. “Someone suggested to them that the delay in the season would mean the dates would change.
“I understand that the contract remains totally in effect, that there hasn’t been any change in the dates.
“With the passing of time, there is contact between the two legal teams. Right now, Messi’s legal team don’t see the situation clearly.”
Given that any club which tries to force the matter could end up paying Messi’s £630m release clause as well as facing FIFA sanctions, Minguella feels that a move is unlikely.
“The interpretation of the clause stops any institution coming in to buy the player saying he is free,” he said. “One day, there is the legal threat that they have to pay anything from one euro to €700m.
“There is a 90 per cent chance that Messi will continue at Barca.”
Bravo nears Real Betis
While Messi’s future hangs in the balance, ex-Barcelona teammate Claudio Bravo is set to make a fresh start this summer.
Having left City earlier this month, he’s in search of a new club. According to Marca, that club could be Real Betis.
Betis are managed by former City boss Manuel Pellegrini and, with Bravo currently a free agent, it would make for a convenient signing.
Bravo, 37, will be expected to compete with Joel Robles. He is in advanced talks with Los Verdiblancos, though he still needs to pass a medical and thrash out the final contract details.
