Man City rub hands with glee: "Messi will leave Barca this summer"

The latest comments by Agusti Benedito, pre-candidate to the Barcelona presidency, have set alarm bells ringing because he has basically confirmed that Leo Messi will leave the Camp Nou this summer. 

In comments offered to 'ESPN', Benedito said: "Keeping Messi would be the best news for the club, but I'm not very optimistic. I would have liked him to say in the interview the other week that he wants to stay at the club, but he didn't do so and now we have to wait and see."

"The truth is I'm pessimistic. You have to bear in mind that in August he said he wanted to leave after 20 years and he still didn't specify what he wanted to do. The most likely outcome is that he will leave us this summer," Benedito continued. 

"Given the club's situation I think it's important for him to stay at Barca since he understands how the next two years will be. He's been here for 20 years, he's a Barcelona fan and I think he knows the situation."

These comments have been reported by 'The Telegraph' and they say that Man City have reacted quickly to these comments. They have started working on the possible purchase of the Argentinian star. 

According to the cited media outlet, the Premier League club are the team most likely to get the Barca striker at the moment, even ahead of PSG. Pep Guardiola being on the City bench is the decisive factor.