‘Boss, I want to go as far as I can’: Leo Messi WANTED to join Man City in 2020 – as per Pep Guardiola’s biographer

Leo Messi actually inquired about a move to Manchester City in 2020, according to Marti Perarnau who has written a biography book about Pep Guardiola.

It all started in August, after Barcelona lost to Bayern Munich 8-2 in the Champions League, when Sergio Aguero told his Man City teammates: ‘Something big might be happening. Leo’s just asked me how long Pep has left on his contract’.

After a while, Messi himself sent a message to Pep as the latter got eliminated from the Champions League with Manchester City. The next day, they would meet each other in Barcelona and discuss the potential move.

“Boss, I just want to go as far as I possibly can. I still want to do great things,” was one of the things Leo told Pep during the 6.5-hour talk.

“Do you know it rains a lot in Manchester? (…) We train hard in Manchester.”

“Doesn’t bother me. I’m ready for hard work.”

“And I still give long tactical talks. Maybe you’ll get bored… ”

“I’ll cope, I can cope with anything you throw at me.”

“Leo, we’re both much older than we were. Maybe we won’t get on now.”

“Pep, I just want the chance to do great things, to feel like I’m ready to smash it again.”

Even though Pep and the Citizens’ sporting directors actually started preparing for Leo’s arrival, the negotiations slowed down and Messi’s father, Jorge, reached an agreement with Barcelona. Besides, Leo himself eventually lost enthusiasm about moving to Man City and re-considered his decision in the following days already.