Spanish football pundit Guillem Balague says Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona, dashing Manchester City’s hopes of signing the forward.
Rumours have been rife in recent weeks that Messi was considering leaving the Nou Camp, but Balague insists the 30-year-old will commit his future to the club.
However, Andres Iniesta’s position is less clear, with Balague claiming the midfielder would be open to a move elsewhere.
“Messi for sure will sign a new contract,” he told Sky Sports. “Iniesta is yet to sit down and discuss a new deal.
“He wants to stay, the club want him to stay, but he is open to other possibilities.
“No-one, the player or Barcelona, know whether that relationship will continue because Iniesta wants to know if he is relevant to the team, and he is yet to receive the financial proposal from Barcelona.”
With Messi set to stay at the Nou Camp, City boss Pep Guardiola is now likely to turn his attention to Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean has been linked with a move away from Arsenal for much of the summer, with City amongst the clubs said to be interested.
However, Guardiola refused to be drawn on the speculation ahead of City’s game at Bournemouth this weekend.
“He’s an Arsenal player, like (Kylian) Mbappe is a Monaco player, like Johnny Evans is a West Bromwich Albion player.
“You have to ask Alexis. He’s a player and the other clubs have to talk about it. Normally I don’t talk about players from other clubs.”
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