City deny €150m Messi swoop

MANCHESTER CITY have denied making an attempt to sign Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

Reports in Spain yesterday claimed City had offered a blockbuster €150m deal to buy out the remainder of the 21-year-old’s contract and then pay him a further €10m a year to play at Eastlands.

But, a day after City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak insisted the club would not overreach in the transfer market this summer, the club issued a statement denying any such approach had been made.