Lionel Messi may go down in history as the ultimate one-club man after it was revealed that he rejected a mouthwatering offer from Manchester City to renew his Barcelona contract.
The Sun is claiming that Manchester City were willing to pay Lionel Messi a signing on bonus of £89.1m to join them when his former Barcelona deal expired next summer.
However, Messi’s head was not turned and he instead signed a new Barcelona deal worth £500,000 per week.
According to Spanish daily Marca, Messi was offered a staggering £850,000 per week by Pep Guardiola’s side to move to England.
The La Liga top scorer was on the verge of running down his previous deal, and could have been able to speak to other teams by January. But Manchester City wanted to steal a match on his other suitors, by moving for him early.
Messi is very close to Guardiola till this day. The pair worked together for four years in Barcelona, winning two Champions League and three La Liga title.
The Argentina captain has been in sparkling form this season, scoring 17 goals already to help the Catalans qualify for the Champions League knock-out round as well as stay five points clear at the top of La Liga.