Lionel Messi was close to a move to the Premier League in 2020 according to a new book on Pep Guardiola.
“Deu salvi el Pep”, by Martí Perarnau recounts the moment during the Covid-19 impacted season that Messi told Guardiola he wanted to come to Manchester City.
Barca were inflicted their heaviest ever European defeat by a rampant Bayern, dumping them out of the Champions League 8-2 in the quarter-finals in Lisbon.
Tension was already clear between the Argentine and the club due to a series of public statements, and Perarnau recounts the conversation as follows:
Pep: In Manchester we train very hard…
Messi: I will train hard, that doesn’t worry me.
Pep: And I continue to have very long tactical talks. You might get bored…
Messi: I will hold on.
Pep: Leo, we’ve grown up. Maybe we can’t stand each other anymore.
Messi: Pep, I just want to play again.
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