The signing of Lionel Messi by Manchester City could long be said to be the crowning glory of their owner’s project.
Having already seen Ferran Soriano, Txiki Begiristain and Pep Guardiola swap Catalonia for the north west of England, there’s a school of thought that Messi would always follow at some stage.
The best footballer in the world finally proving that he could do it on a wet Wednesday in Stoke.
Last summer, had things worked out differently, the Argentinian would be wearing City’s light blue kit now rather than the blaugrana.
Given that his contract with Barca runs out at the end of this season, he can sign on elsewhere for free, and that’s clearly an attraction.
City, however, may well have blown their chance to make their supporter’s dreams come true.
According to The Sun, the Premier League table toppers have slashed £170m off of their original offer to him, it appears because of the coronavirus pandemic affecting the economics of any deal.
With Kylian Mbappe and Neymar apparently ready to extend their deals at Paris Saint-Germain too, the most likely scenario at this stage, and perhaps one that couldn’t have been predicted, is Messi staying at Barcelona.