City sign up Pep... now Messi is the next target
MANCHESTER CITY are determined to reunite Lionel Messi with Pep Guardiola after tying their boss down to a new deal until 2023.
City will turn their attention to landing Messi and teaming him up with his former Barcelona boss Guardiola as their dream team to land the club’s first Champions League crown.
Messi, out of contract next summer, is ready to leave Barca and City could even move for him as early as January.
Argentina superstar Messi tried to leave Barca in the summer but stayed to avoid a legal dispute with the club.
City are determined to land the 33-year-old and believe his addition can be the final piece in the jigsaw to take them to Champions League glory.
Guardiola’s new deal, worth an estimated £ 20million- a- year, will eventually take his stay at City to seven years, putting him second on the list of the club’s longest-serving post-war managers.
The gaffer said: “Ever since I arrived I’ve been made to feel so welcome.
“Since then we’ve achieved a great deal together, scored goals, won games and trophies, and we’re all very proud of that.
“Having that kind of support is the best thing any manager can have.
“The challenge for us is to continue improving and evolving, and I am very excited and about helping g Manchester City do that.”
City chairman Khaldoon n Al Mubarak said: “It is s testament to the qualities s of the man that Pep’s s passion and intelligent t approach are now woven n into the very fabric of the e football we play.
“There is so much more e to be achieved.”