MANCHESTER CITY will NEVER sign Barcelona ace Lionel Messi, admits Citizens chief executive Ferran Soriano.
City’s CEO has conceded defeat in the Premier League’s clubs quest to lure the Argentinian maestro to the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola‘s side are one of the few clubs to be able to activate the buyout clause of Messi, believed to be in the region of £625million.
Speaking to news outlets in Buenos Aires, Soriano – who was Barca‘s Vice President between 2003-2008 – revealed the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is loving life in Catalonia.
The 50-year-old said: “There is no chance of signing Messi.
“I know him and his family well and I know they are fine in Barcelona, which is where he needs to be.
“We will make our way without him, which will be more difficult because he is the best player in the history of football.
“He changed everything, he is a genius.”
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Soriano was also full of praise for Pep Guardiola, who has already guided City to the Carabao Cup this season, and looks destined to wrap up the Premier League title in the coming weeks.
He added: “The main characteristic of Guardiola is working.
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“He works more than anyone and sometimes people think that he is a genius, but it is because he works a lot.
“He knows that football is very cruel and when you relax, you [can] concede four goals.
“Patience is essential and one way to understand it is to see that the teams that have won consistently are not the ones that change a coach every two months or every year.
“The key is long-term planning and managers must have the strength to make the decisions they think are right, even though fans ask for something else.”
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