Football transfer rumours: Lionel Messi to Manchester City on free transfer?

Today’s babble really needs to start remembering its pin numbers

As Barcelona continue their increasingly unseemly and as yet unsuccessful pursuit of one or all of Nice’s Jean Michaël Seri , Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembélé and Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho , Camp Nou natives are becoming ever more restless. Their mood will not be improved by reports from Spain that Lionel Messi ’s father has begun talks with Manchester City with a view to negotiating a move for his son to the Etihad Stadium next summer. Now in the final year of his contract at Barcelona with an extension resolutely unsigned, the Argentinian will be free to discuss his future with other clubs in January or leave on a free transfer next summer. It’s a sorry state of affairs for Barcelona, who had previously misled supporters .

“Quite apart from the situation with Messi and what happens next, they lied,” said Sid Lowe, the Guardian’s man in Spain in an interview with ESPN. “They lied to their fans and that is really problematic. It puts Messi in a position where he must be thinking: ‘What on earth is going on? Why has this been said when it simply isn’t true?’” Señor Sid went on to say he doesn’t think Messi will leave Barcelona but did speculate that the player will bide his time before inking a new deal in order to see if a currently bad situation at the Spanish club gets better or worse. In other news pertaining to Barcelona, France Football reports they are interested in luring Willian away from Chelsea, while Sport says they have agreed a €50m deal with Paris Saint-Germain to sign Messi’s compatriot Ángel Di María.