Chelsea & Man Utd Given Boost In Messi Pursuit, But Will He Ever Leave The Nou Camp?

Premier League leaders Chelsea and Manchester United will be hoping that the latest development out of Germany could be about to clear the way of further rivalry in their hunt to sign FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, however they will still face stiff competition for the Argentine’s signature should there be a deal to be done with the Spanish giants.

Reports have revealed that Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has ruled the German side out of the rumoured chase for the Argentina international but not without making sure that the football world knew the reason behind his comments, claiming that although there are a host of clubs that claim to be willing to open their bank to sign the attacker, there is simply no deal that can be done.

Rummenigge was quick to point out that he knew the people in charge at the Spanish La Liga side and that he knew that they were not even contemplating selling Messi, let alone allowing him to speak to other clubs but as an additional warning shot, the German also pointed out his belief that even if clubs were able to agree a fee for the attacker, they would have problems negotiating with him as he wouldn’t want to leave the Spanish club, describing the relationship between the attacker and the Catalans as being “like a marriage for a lifetime”.

News that the German’s are no longer interested in pursuing Messi’s signature will surely be a boost to any chances that remain for Premier League rivals Manchester United and Chelsea to capture the electrifying frontman in the summer with the Daily Star claiming that both clubs were willing to break their current transfer record to see the Argentine heading to England in a deal that would need to be worth upwards of £200 million.

The Barcelona star does have a release clause within his contact that sees any interested side having to stump up 250 million euros if they want to force the Spanish club to allow them to speak with the player but with financial fairplay regulations in place, any proposed move for the Argentine would have to come with a number of outbound players making way.

Although the chances of signing Messi seem slim, speculation towards whether Messi could be looking for a new challenge have increased following comments made by Farncois Gallardo, a football agent that claims to be an ‘insider’ to transfer knowledge, revealing that he believed that Lionel Messi would consider a move in the summer while speaking on Punto Pelota, a Spanish television show.

As the summer draws closer, bookmakers such as SkyBet have begun to open their books to bets that would see Messi leave Barcelona in the summer with odds pointing in the favour of a move to current Premier League leaders Chelsea priced at 10/1.

Football-Talk.co.uk opted to speak to a number of sites that claim to monitor betting activity within this market to gather general interest that could be forming and Kevin Anderson of legalsoccerbetting.com seemed to believe that those that are following the gossip closely are questioning whether Messi would consider a move to England to be one that would be right for his career.

“The question has to be whether Messi would see a chance to play in the Premier League to be a good one for his career, although the league has been widely tipped to be the best in the world over recent years, that gulf in competition seems to have reduced significantly and that could potentially rule a move out of equation.

There are only a small number of clubs that would be able to afford to meet the release clause to be able to speak with the player in the first place and the majority of those are based in England, PSG could but we can’t see Messi wanting to play in France and Bayern have just ruled themselves out.

We already know that Messi has ignored Russian interest in the past that was offering him £460,000 a week, so any club that are going to be able to lure him to England are going to have to have very deep pockets.”

Betting odds for the summer move price Manchester City as a potential second place at 14/1 while Manchester United fall behind PSG in the bookies eyes at 25/1 but if a move is on the agenda and you think that Messi will switch alliance, Real Madrid are being touted at 40/1 as outsiders.