Barcelona midfielder Xavi has told Manchester City to abandon any hope it might retain of ever snatching Lionel Messi away from the Catalan giants.
By his own majestic standards Messi, who missed nearly two months of the season through injury, has struggled to find his best form in recent weeks, while Barcelona has surrendered the leadership of La Liga to Real Madrid.
The Argentine superstar has scored 230 goals for the club since making his debut as 17-year-old a decade ago, but has looked ill at ease in recent weeks as he adjusts to the demands of manager Tata Martino’s tactics, leading to suggestions that he could be tempted to consider a new challenge in the summer.
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But Xavi insists not even a world-record fee could tempt Barcelona into selling its star man.
“Of course there will always be stories about the best player in the world and in my opinion the best player ever - but Manchester City and any other team can forget about signing Messi,” Xavi told Goal.
“There is no transfer fee that could make it a good deal for Barcelona - and as everybody who knows him knows - he loves the club and has made it clear he never wants to leave.”