Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is watching Lionel Messi's stalled contract negotiations with Barcelona.

While he admits it is a long shot, Florentino has told Real directors that signing Messi would be "financially feasible".

The likelihood of Messi betraying Barca in such a fashion is slim, but the Real president likes the idea of turning up the heat on Barca by making it known that they have the spending power to make the deal happen.

El Confidencial says it isn't the first time Perez has made an attempt for Messi.

Back in 2005, Perez asked the agent who engineered Luis Figo's move from Barca to try the same with Messi. But Barca refused to do business. The second time arrived when Messi was first crowned Ballon d'Or, with Perez willing to pay his €250 million buyout clause. But Messi had no interest in taking part in such an operation.

The Argentine's opinion today hasn't changed, but that won't put off Perez from stirring things up as Barca struggle to settle on a new deal with their star man.