Could Manchester City really activate Lionel Messi’s £275m release clause at Barcelona?

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Manchester City are set to launch a bid to release Lionel Messi from his Barcelona contract by activating his €300 million (£275 million) release clause, say Yahoo Sport France, who cite Canal+ journalist Romain Collet-Gaudin.

Is there any chance of the move happening?

The Argentine forward is expected to sign a new deal at the Camp Nou, according to the Independent, which will see him earn £500,000 per week. It would be quite a U-turn now to abandon that agreement, though he is yet to put pen to paper.

However, Barcelona have become somewhat shambolic in recent weeks since losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain after the French club paid his release clause. The only arrival since has been that of Tottenham flop Paulinho for £40 million, whilst talks with Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele have failed to make progress and may well leave the Barcelona number 10 feeling disillusioned.

With the side clearly on the decline as the likes of Andres Iniesta near retirement, there is a clear cause for concern in Catalonia with few young talents ready to step up into their place after years of poor recruitment. Loyalty may be all that is keeping the Argentinean on the Spanish coast.

The opportunity to reunite with Pep Guardiola at the Etihad could be tempting for the forward, who broke onto the scene and rose to stardom under the tutelage of Guardiola. City too would be one of the very few clubs in the world who could consider paying such a fee or affording his wages.

However, having already spent big money on the likes of Ederson, Bernado Silva, Danilo, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, it seems impossible that the Citizens could make such a deal this summer comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play framework.

Just how good would Messi be in the Premier League?

Critics have often questioned whether the world’s best player could produce on a cold, wet, windy Tuesday night at Stoke. Coming to the Premier League is likely to be the only way to test that.

His technical ability is beyond any other player in England and it is hard to imagine him having any impact other than blowing away Premier League defence’s with ease. There’s no doubting that he would be a world class addition for any side and would surely immediately propel Manchester City to title favourites.