Barcelona are bracing themselves for an approach from Man United for Lionel Messi

The next few weeks at Barcelona are going to be fascinating, especially if Lionel Messi does manage to force his way out of the club.

The Argentine superstar is 33 so he probably has two or three years left at the highest level, so it does suggest that his next club will need to have a chance of immediate success.

It’s so easy to link him to Man City because of Pep Guardiola and their financial backing, but it also sounds like Man United are going to have a real run at trying to sign him.

They’ve been trying to sign a right sided forward all summer so Messi would be a perfect fit, while he would also bring a whole new level of threat that could elevate them to the elite level again.

READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s decision to quit Barcelona came after harsh words from Ronald Koeman in their meeting

His wages are going to be astronomical and he might feel that Man United aren’t on his level just now, but a report from Football Espana has suggested that Barcelona expect them to at least try to sign him.

They quote Sport in saying that Barca believe Man United and PSG are the two teams in world football who have the best chance of signing him, so they are bracing themselves for an approach.

It’s suggested that Messi would be drawn to PSG because of Neymar, but Man United would offer more of a challenge so he could still be enticed to Old Trafford.

PSG would also have the issue where they would have to find a way of getting the wages of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi past FFP regulations, which could be a tough thing to do.

They also claim that although Messi is trying to cancel his contract, Barca may not allow it so a fee of around €100m will be required to sign him, while his wages will be a serious investment too.

He’s going to be linked with a lot of teams in the next few weeks, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up.