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Manchester City 'emerging as favourites for Lionel Messi'

Manchester City 'emerging as favourites for Lionel Messi'
© Reuters
Manchester City are reportedly in pole position to sign Lionel Messi, who will not be signing a new contract with Barcelona.

Manchester City are reportedly in pole position to sign Lionel Messi this summer, with the Argentina international available on a free transfer.

Barcelona said on Thursday evening that "financial and structural obstacles" had prevented them from being able to commit Messi to a new contract at Camp Nou, meaning that he will play his football elsewhere next term.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Paris Saint-Germain have already been in contact with the South American to register their interest in his services.

However, according to Marca, Man City are the favourites for the 34-year-old despite completing a record-breaking £100m deal for Jack Grealish on Thursday.

The report claims that PSG are currently focusing on renewing Kylian Mbappe's contract and could therefore struggle to hand Messi the deal that he would want to make the move to Paris.

There have also been suggestions that the attacker could head to the MLS, but it is understood that he wants to spend at least another two years playing in a top European league.

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Written by
Matt Law

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Argentina's Lionel Messi during the match on June 9, 2021
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool18143145172845
2Arsenal19116238172139
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest1911442619737
4Chelsea19105438231535
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle1995532211132
6Manchester CityMan City199463226631
7Bournemouth198652923630
8Fulham197842825329
9Aston Villa198562831-329
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton196942928127
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1973941281324
12Brentford197393335-224
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham196582335-1223
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd196492126-522
15Crystal Palace194872027-720
16Everton183871524-917
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1944113142-1116
18Ipswich TownIpswich1936101833-1515
19Leicester CityLeicester1935112242-2014
20Southampton1913151239-276


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