Manchester City 'considering January move for Lionel Messi'

Manchester City are reportedly weighing up a £15m move for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi during the January transfer window.

The 33-year-old was strongly linked with a move away from Camp Nou over the summer after signalling a desire to leave, but Barca refused to allow him to leave on a free transfer.

Messi's contract with the Catalan giants will expire next June, though, and Barca boss Ronald Koeman recently hinted that the Argentina international would be on the move in 2021.

According to the Daily Star, City are the favourites for the South American, but a number of other clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Chelsea and Manchester United, are also keeping a close eye on developments.

The report claims that Pep Guardiola's side could offer Barca £15m in the winter transfer window in a bid to steal a march on their rivals for the forward.

Messi, who is also believed to be attracting attention from the MLS, has only scored once in four La Liga appearances at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.