Leading football journalist believes Lionel Messi joining Man City is a genuine possibility

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Leading football journalist Mark Odgen believes the prospect of fans seeing Lionel Messi line-up for Manchester City in the Premier League is now a genuine possibility after Pep Guardiola signed a new two-year deal with the Citizens.

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Messi, 33, has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona after joining their youth academy all the way back in 2000.

Since his arrival at the Nou Camp, Messi has gone on to become arguably the greatest ever player to grace a football pitch.

The South American magician’s credential speaks for themselves after a stunning 20-year plus long career have seen the attacker win almost everything and boast a truly astonishing goal scoring record.

Barcelona’s world-class wide attacker has featured in 742 matches in all competitions and has been directly involved in a stunning 922 goals.

Throughout Messi’s career at Barcelona, it became impossible to imagine the maestro plying his trade anywhere else, however, after a summer of turmoil at the Nou Camp, the 33-year-old’s future has been thrown into doubt.

There has been suggestions over the summer that Messi was ready to throw the towel in at Barcelona, but a sensational move away failed to materialise after the attacker gave Goal an exclusive interview confirming his intentions to stay with Barcelona for at least one more season.

However, the saga appears to be far from over and ESPN’s football journalist Ogden believes Messi could be edging closer to a shock switch to City after Messi’s former manager, Guardiola, recently signed a new two-year deal, as per BBC Sport.

Writing in his transfer column, Ogden said: “Pep Guardiola’s decision to sign a contract extension at Manchester City last week was a big deal for the club in more ways than one: It ensures that the most celebrated coach in football will remain at the Etihad until 2023, but perhaps more significantly, it also puts the club firmly in pole position to sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona.

“In just under six weeks’ time, Messi can talk to non-Spanish clubs about a free transfer from Camp Nou at the end of this season. If he chooses to do so, from Jan. 1 he can negotiate a move to a new team in time for the 2021-22 season, and Barcelona will be powerless to stop him.”