Lionel Messi wanted assurances that Sergio Aguero was staying at Manchester City before agreeing to sign for the club in 2021 – but Pep Guardiola was unable to make that happen.
Messi was at Barcelona at the time, playing in what would be his final season, and was heavily linked with a move to City due to the breakdown of his relationship with the Camp Nou club.
A move to the Premier League was very much on the cards, according to Argentine outlet El Chiringuito, who at the time claimed Messi was keen to link up with his international team-mate Aguero and former boss Guardiola.
Guardiola was clearly unable to guarantee Messi’s demand, though, with Aguero leaving the club that summer and signing for Barcelona – with Man City later going all in to sign Erling Haaland.
Messi, 36, is now plying his trade at Inter Miami after leaving Paris Saint-Germain last summer. He spent 21 successful years at Barca, where he won 24 major trophies including the Champions League four times and the Club World Cup on three occasions
Messi scored 672 goals in 778 appearances and collected several personal accolades. He played under Guardiola for four years at Barcelona, winning the Champions League twice and La Liga three times.
Messi left Barcelona at the end of the 2020/21 season but opted to join PSG and reunite with former team-mate Neymar, instead. This is after Guardiola shipped Aguero out of the door with City signing Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2million the following summer.
Aguero agreed to sign for Barcelona but was forced to retire just seven months into his two-year contract on the advice of doctors. Messi struggled during his first season at PSG but gradually improved as time wore on. He departed the club at the end of last season, having won Ligue 1 twice.
Now, Messi is at Major League Soccer side Inter Miami and has helped completely transform their fortunes. Messi scored 11 goals in 14 matches during the 2023 season as the Herons won the Leagues Cup but has missed the last few weeks of action after picking up a hamstring problem.
Explaining why Messi chose Miami, co-owner Jorge Mas told The Times: “It was very difficult to compete solely on an economic basis but we had our city, what it represents, but also a place where his family could enjoy themselves. Miami is the unofficial capital of the Americas, a bilingual city. The majority of the population is Hispanic from south and central America and I think that was an extremely attractive thing for Lionel.”
