Manchester City COO Omar Berrada hints club will pursue Lionel Messi in 2021

Stop us if you're heard this one before: Manchester City are preparing to make a move for Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi. 

Messi, who will turn 34 years old next June, attempted to orchestrate his exit from the Catalan club following the 2019-20 season that ended in August because of the coronavirus pandemic. Barca insisted, however, that a stipulation allowing Messi to terminate his deal had expired in June and requested that suitors meet the €700 million release clause attached to his rights. 

City, nor any other club, were likely to match that asking price under normal conditions and certainly not amid the health crisis that is forcing teams around the world to play either in empty stadiums or at venues filled well below capacity. 

For a piece published by the Manchester Evening News on Friday, however, City COO Omar Berrada sent a clear message that the 2018-19 English champions haven't given up on landing the man seen by many as the greatest footballer in history:

"He's an amazing talent, he's somebody that can make a significant impact at any club in the world on and off the pitch immediately."

"He's the best player in the world, he's the best player of his generation. I think any club in the world would like to explore the possibility of him joining their team. The fact that it was commented that he wanted to come to play for City just shows you how far the team has come over the last years where the best talent of his generation and potentially saying he wants to come and play for us.

"It's hard to guess what could happen. If you think back to those two weeks where everything played out at Barcelona, it's almost impossible to guess what will happen next summer. Messi is a generational talent, he's the best player in the world and probably an exception to potential investments that we'd do out of the ordinary but our planning has been done with this current squad and it is being considered with the current opportunities that we have.

"For every single position we have to be prepared because there can be so many things that can happen but at the same time I think we have the financial strength and system ability to make that investment [in a striker] when required.

"That's what puts us in a position where we feel comfortable that we'll be able to take the right decision because it also doesn't mean that we'll have to rush into anything - first because Sergio [Aguero] and Gabriel [Jesus] are performing very well, they are two of the best strikers in the world right now, and when we do decide to bring in potentially someone else, whether it is next season or the one after that then we will be in a financial position to do it for the right price."

Unless Barcelona convince Messi to put pen to paper on an extension before the year ends, he will be free to negotiate with clubs around the world on a contract for the 2021-22 season (and beyond) starting Jan. 1.