42 Days left: Now ManCity Is Dreaming Of Messi
To become the next president of FC Barcelona, Victor Font has not missed a dream of the Barça fans in his election campaign for weeks. One who didn't seem particularly realistic anyway (which isn't always important in the election campaign), finally fell through on Thursday.
Pep Guardiola will not return to Barcelona and will not be the one to convince Lionel Messi to stay. Instead, the Catalan extended his contract with Manchester City, which expired in the summer, by two years until 2023 - and could even pose a threat to Font and his plans.
From January Messi can officially negotiate with ManCity
As soon as the signature was made public on Thursday, the name Messi was "trending" in Manchester. The starting position for ManCity and its fans is also too tempting: From January 1, so in 43 days, Messi can officially speak to other clubs without Barça's permission because his contract expires in the summer. And now he knows who will be the city coach in the coming season.
It is an open secret that ManCity courted Messi this summer; In the end, the 33-year-old did not force a change because of the fragile truce. The anger over the processes at his only professional club so far has not yet subsided . Is he really daring a whole new chapter with Intimus Guardiola? With managing director Ferran Soriano and sports director Txiki Begiristain, ManCity feels a bit like the "old" Barça, and not just because of Guardiola.
Guardiola signed for his boss - "that was the main reason"
Conversely, the ManCity bosses would hardly miss such a coup and would certainly be happy to suspend their policy of only engaging young players. So does Messi also belong to the "trip" that club boss Khaldoon Al Mubarak spoke of on the occasion of Guardiola's extension?
In any case, the Champions League title should be one of them, even if it was not mentioned in ManCity's press release on Thursday, just like Messi. In four years in England Guardiola has not made it through the quarter-finals in the most important European competition.
That could have cost other coaches the job, but ManCity doesn't seem to have lost any trust. He is and remains the central figure in a "club built for Guardiola" ("Guardian"). And the fact that he himself says he signed "for our boss" ("That was the main reason") reveals who convinced whom of a future together. "We had long talks this week and discussed both - to continue or not," said Guardiola. Al Mubarak has convinced him "that we have to continue what we have started in the past four incredible years".
Guardiola beckons second place in ManCity's history - will he then become national coach?
If Guardiola stayed until 2022, there would be only one ManCity coach with Les McDowall (1950 to 1963) who was in office longer. It is speculated that the now 49-year-old could then devote himself to a national team, although these rumors had already existed years ago with a view to the 2022 World Cup. Guardiola was the World Cup ambassador for Qatar.
The Barça rumors, which Guardiola never nurtured, are a thing of the past for the time being. Font has already reoriented itself anyway. On Wednesday he called Xavi the "best possible" coach for Barcelona.
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