Man City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak Says He Offered Messi Treble His Salary to Leave Barca

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has admitted the Sky Blues launched an audacious attempt to prize Leo Messi away from Barcelona, and even offered to treble the Argentine’s mammoth salary.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner put pen-to-paper on a new four-year Barca deal back in November 2017, but looked like he might quit the La Liga giants during negotiations.

Of course, in the end, Messi stayed put in the Camp Nou, but Mubarak has revealed he and the City hierarchy made a pretty remarkable offer to try and tempt him to the Premier League.

Speaking during a media conference in the United Arab Emirates, via the Bleacher Report, when asked if there’s one player he regretted not being able to sign, Mubarak admitted: “Messi.

“We asked [manager Pep] Guardiola to talk to him, we offered him triple the salary he has at Barcelona, but he never accepted.”

Given Messi probably earns somewhere in the region of £500,000 per week, it’s probably fair to assume City offered him an eye-watering amount of at least £1M per week, right?

How do you think Messi would fare in English football? Surely City would just become unbeatable?