Pep Guardiola failed in an attempt to bring Barcelona forward Lionel Messi to Manchester City.
That is according to City’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who asked Guardiola which player he wanted most in the world.
Messi and Guardiola worked together at Camp Nou, enjoying amazing success by winning the Champions League twice and La Liga three times in a row.
City’s interest in Messi dates back before the arrival of Guardiola, but the Spaniard tried to use his influence to bring the Argentine to England in 2016.
‘We asked Guardiola to talk to him (Messi), we offered him triple the salary he has at Barca, but he never accepted,’ Al Mubarak said.
Messi reportedly earns around £100million a year as at Barcelona and is the best paid footballer in the world.
City have actually done well under Guardiola without Messi, winning the Premier League last campaign.
Guardiola aims to deliver back-to-back Premier league titles for the first time in the club’s history this season.
But it seems City will face a tougher challenge this campaign to retain their crown, with Chelsea and Liverpool keeping pace so far with then.
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All three clubs are tied on 20 points at the top of the table after eight matches, with Chelsea’ Eden Hazard currently the best player so far this season.
