Pep Guardiola has denied reports
Manchester City offered Lionel Messi a
€100million bonus to sign with the Premier
League club, insisting the Argentina
superstar was never going to leave
Barcelona.
Messi finally made his new contract at Camp
Nou official last month, signing a deal that
contains a €700m buyout clause.
That contract, which will keep him in
Catalonia until June 2021, had been agreed
in July.
But the lack of confirmation on
that agreement had led to talk that Messi
could sensationally leave Barca, with the 30-
year-old reportedly the subject of
an audacious bid from City.
However, speaking ahead of City's
Champions League clash with Shakhtar
Donetsk on Wednesday, Guardiola, who
oversaw the bulk of Messi's rise to
becoming arguably the greatest player of all
time, rejected talk that a transfer was ever
on the cards.
Asked about the speculation of City's offer
to Messi, Guardiola said: "That's not true.
"Lionel Messi signed a new contract a week
ago.
"It was never going to happen. He wants to
finish his career with Barcelona.
"If he wanted to leave then he wouldn't
have signed that new contract."