Pol Ballús, Martyn Ziegler
Lionel Messi called Pep Guardiola last
week to tell him he was going to leave
Barcelona before formally informing
the Catalan club.
The Times understands that the
conversation ended with the Manches-
ter City manager telling Messi, 33, that
if he definitely wanted to leave Barce-
lona, he would inform City’s hierarchy
that he would love to sign him.
City have long been keen observers
of Messi’s position at Barcelona and the
club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, would
view signing the Argentina star for the
club as the fulfilment of a dream.
However, they have always been
respectful of the bond between Messi
and Barcelona. But Messi’s decision to
call Guardiola is an indication of the
link between the two men and would
seem to confirm that the Premier
League club are in pole position to sign
the forward. The pair have a long
history, with Guardiola managing the
young Messi during his four years in
charge of the club from 2008-2012.
Manchester City’s chief executive,
Ferran Soriano, is in Catalonia and is
expected to meet Messi’s father, Jorge,
who handles the player’s affairs, early
next week when he travels back from
Argentina.
The chase for Messi may also mean
that City ask Guardiola for a commit-
ment that he will remain at the club
beyond the end of next season when his
contract expires, as it is expected the
player would want that reassurance for
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in bay (5,6)
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including right one ( 4 )
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NBA leads sporting protests
but the play-offs are saved
Page 68Turmoil in America
02222222222222222222222222222222222222222000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ththtttttttttthttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttthttttttttttttttthttttttttttthhe timesBrailsford’s mind games show
signs of a worried man
Pages 66-67Ultimate Tour guide
Messi told
Guardiola he
was quitting
at least two seasons. Any deal would
mean a huge financial outlay; to match
the salary Messi is paid by Barcelona
would mean City agreeing to annual
wages of close to £90 million, about the
same as the entire salary bill of
Newcastle United, as well as an
expected transfer fee of the same sum.
The bigger sticking point surrounds
persuading Barcelona to part company
with the player who has been synony-
mous with their success over the past 14
years. The Catalan club are insisting
that he remains “part of the project”
under Ronald Koeman, the new head
coach.
Josep Bartomeu, the Barcelona pres-
ident, has indicated that he would step
aside if Messi agreed to commit his
future to the club, although reports in
Spain say that the player has refused to
take a call from the 57-year-old.
Barcelona are insisting that Messi
cannot leave on a free transfer and that
the €700 million (about £625 million)
escape clause is still active. His camp
claims the delays caused by the corona-
virus pandemic means it does not still
apply, and a legal battle is looming.
Wayne Rooney, the former England
and Manchester United captain,
believes a move to City would help
Messi to retain his status as the world’s
top player for at least another year.
Rooney told talkSPORT: “He’s the
best player of all time and if he can
come to the Premier League, I think
whichever team it is — and I do
believe it’s only Manchester City or
Continued on page 70MI NEWS & SPORT LTDFears for England squad as virus spreads
An outbreak of Covid-19 cases in the
Premier League, that includes Man-
chester United’s Paul Pogba, could have
a serious impact on Gareth Southgate’s
preparation for England’s Nations
League matches next month.
The Times understands that there is
growing concern at the Football Asso-
ciation with news of a number of cases,
including some members of the squad
selected by Southgate this week.
As yet nobody had been removedfrom the 23-man party that Southgate
named on Tuesday — apart from
Harry Maguire after news of his
suspended jail sentence in Greece —
but the England manager is thought to
be bracing himself for withdrawals
before his players report for training at
St George’s Park on Monday.
The FA now plans to implement a
series of measures to protect the squad
from a spread of infection once they
report for international duty, with
particular attention paid to Southgate
himself. While players can be replacedbefore the games in Iceland and
Denmark, the manager cannot.
One senior FA insider said there is
concern that Covid-19 could soon be
“spreading like wildfire” at top-flight
clubs as players return from their sum-
mer holidays. There has been an out-
break at Chelsea and at least one other
London club, while Manchester United
have been hit not only by the news of
Pogba’s positive test but the need to
force Aaron Wan-Bissaka into quaran-
tine for 14 days after his unauthorised
Continued on page 69Matt Lawton, Ian Whittell, Gary JacobLightning strike
on opening night
Alex Davies runs out Graham Clark as
Lancashire Lightning beat Durham in a
soggy first round of T20 Blast, page 62City plan talks next week with player’s advisers