Man City Consider Player-Plus-Cash Deal to Ease Financial Burden of Signing Lionel Messi

Manchester City have been described as ‘hopeful’ of signing Lionel Messi in what would potentially be the biggest transfer coup of all time, but they may have to get creative with whatever offer they table for the Barcelona superstar.

Messi has informed his club that he wants to leave Camp Nou this summer and the wrangling over his signature has inevitably already begun. The player intends to trigger a clause in his contract allowing him to leave for free on his own request, but the club claims that option expired in June.

There are already rumours that Messi’s father, Jorge, has travelled to Manchester to negotiate with City. Conflicting reports, however, suggest Messi Sr. is in Argentina and that it will be a delegation from Manchester who travel to Catalonia next week to start the talks.

It has been suggested that despite Messi’s hope to move as a free agent, City would be willing to pay a transfer fee for the 33-year-old, said to be in the region of €100m to €150m. They are also open to including players like Eric Garcia or Angeliño in any package they offer.

Barcelona have been tipped to demand a world record fee, which essentially means any offer would have to at least match the €222m (£199m) that Paris Saint-Germain paid for Neymar in 2017.

City have already spent time trying to crunch the numbers into an acceptable outlay, crucially, one that adheres to Financial Fair Player regulation. The Times cites ‘insiders with knowledge of the negotiations’ to state that the four-time Premier League champions are ‘hopeful’ a deal will be done.

It has been widely shared that City are contemplating offering Messi a three-year contract, followed by a move to MLS in 2023 to join sister club New York City.

But the Daily Telegraph estimates that Messi could still cost the Premier League club £500m in total, once Barça’s asking price and his current salary over the length of the deal are taken into account.

The Times adds that Messi’s minimum annual salary at Camp Nou is around £78m and can reach £100m. But it is possible that rival suitors Inter could have an advantage because of a financial break in Italy allowing tax on income generated outside the country – Messi-driven merchandise sales, perhaps – to be capped at €100,000. City could face significantly higher tax in the UK.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!