Recent revelations from a new book have uncovered text messages between Lionel Messi and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. These messages hint at the possibility of Messi joining Guardiola’s team at City. The speculation comes on the heels of Messi’s disappointing Champions League exit with Barcelona, as they suffered a crushing 8-2 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. Evidently frustrated, Messi was reportedly pondering his future and reaching out to Guardiola for a potential spot on the City squad. Subsequently, Messi’s father, Jorge Messi, is believed to have reached out to City’s CEO Ferran Soriano to arrange a meeting between Pep Guardiola and his son.
Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi were on the brink of reuniting at Manchester City in 2020. After exchanging messages, Guardiola agreed to meet Messi at his home in Barcelona for a six-hour conversation.
In snippets revealed in the Daily Mail, Messi expressed his desire to achieve great things, to which Guardiola jokingly mentioned the frequent rains in Manchester. Undeterred, Messi affirmed his readiness to work hard, even through long tactical discussions that Guardiola warned about.
Despite concerns about their age and potential differences, the two parted ways with a warm hug at 6:30 p.m. local time. Guardiola then began strategizing on how to approach Barcelona for Messi’s recruitment into his team.
The Argentine star was looking to make a move from Barcelona to Manchester. City fans were buzzing at the thought of having one of the best players in the world on their team, especially after losing the Premier League title to Liverpool. Bernardo Silva even messaged Pep Guardiola on September 3, asking if the rumors about Messi were true and promising to work even harder if he joined. However, Messi ended up staying at Barcelona for another year to avoid legal issues and signed a lucrative deal with the club. Eventually, he made a move to Paris Saint-Germain before joining Inter Miami in 2023. The book also reveals that Guardiola passed on signing Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021 because he didn’t think the player would fit well into their system.