Manchester City are ready to sign Lionel Messi sooner than expected by submitting a January transfer bid for the Barcelona Legend, MySportDab reports.
Manchester City had tried to sign the Argentine superstar this summer, when he tried to leave the Spanish club.
But, Barcelona refused to let Messi leave by demanding his shocking £625m release clause.
However, According to The Sun, City are considering making a new offer to sign Messi in January for a fee rather than wait until he becomes a free agent next.
MySportDab understands that a bid of around £50m may convince Barcelona to sell in January because they would still lose him for free in seven months.
Barca currently have a debt of £440m which has heavily affected their financial power.
Messi has scored six goals in 10 matches for Barcelona this season but still holds an awkward relationship with the new manager Ronald Koeman.
Even though Messi leaving would be bad, Barcelona are in a serious financial crisis and have tried to slash their wage bill by £171m due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Messi is Barcelona current highest paid footballer. The Argentine earns around £500,000 per week, and £26m per year.
Player wages cost Barcelona about 61 per cent of the club’s £940m revenue before the coronavirus pandemic started.
But income has now also dropped to £746m, salaries have taken over 80 per cent of total income.
The signing of Lionel Messi would be a great opportunity for City manager Pep Guardiola to finally win the Champions League at the Ethiad club.
It would also show that Manchester City are serious with their intentions to make Pep Guardiola stay at the club.
Should Messi join Manchester City, he would be eligible for the Champions League knockout stages.
