Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is unsure if they can compete with Manchester United for Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

UEFA have clamped down on City's spending under Financial Fair Play rules and splashing out the £150m it would cost in a transfer fee alone for Messi could be a major problem.

City are way behind United in terms of the commercial revenue needed to support such a deal, but Pellegrini said: "I don't really understand FFP.

"It seems some teams can buy a player for £100m and we cannot do it, or Chelsea cannot do it, or other teams cannot do it.

"If you don't have depth to understand what supports FFP it's difficult for me to answer the question. Some teams can buy for £100m, £70m, but we cannot do it."