Manchester City are closely monitoring Lionel Messi's situation at Barcelona. The Daily Star Sunday says City have been encouraged by noises from Barcelona about Messi being unhappy with tax issues in Spain.
Certainly, there are connections between City and Messi, 27.
To start with, City's CEO Ferran Soriano and transfer fixer Txiki Begiristain worked with the leading scorer in Champions League history at the Nou Camp.
And five of his Argentina compatriots are already on the books at The Etihad - Pablo Zabaleta, Sergio Aguero, Martin Demichelis, Willy Caballero and Bruno Zuculini.
But to fund a deal for Messi, even mega-rich City would have to make a raft of sales.
Alvaro Negredo's loan move to Valencia becomes a permanent deal in the summer and there would have to be other high-profile departures from a list including Yaya Toure, Edin Dzeko, Samir Nasri and Aleksandar Kolarov.
