Manchester United ‘not interested’ in landing the world-class star

Manchester United have a long-term project in their mind.

It was a usual summer day, all men and their dogs were enjoying the scorching heat of Tuesday, and suddenly broke out the story that Lionel Messi was immediately going to leave the club by terminating his current contract.

We are now on the next day after what was undoubtedly a long and painful night for those Barcelona fans across the globe. Some major developments have happened since the news of Messi leaving his dream club came under the spotlight.

And, on the other hand, Barcelona have announced the signing of Francisco Trincão, a 20-year-old Portuguese forward who was summoned from Braga for €31million in January. While it’s really difficult summing up exactly how much positivity the announcement has heralded within the fanbase, some publications have seemingly utilised the occasion in a useful way.

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The Sun call the official announcement of Trincão “ill-timed”, while the comments sections of Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s welcome message for Trincão on his personal social media platforms are full of profanity and swearing.

This was written in stone after what had happened last night to their one of their greatest players, if not the greatest. Following the outburst of the news, Barca fans gathered outside the Camp Nou office to protest at Messi’s proposed exit and stayed under the darkest sky of Catalunya for as long as they could.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner has his contract with Barcelona left until June 2021. And with his current release clause stating that one interested party will have to pay €700 million, no team is expected to get the deal over the line.

Nevertheless, reports suggest that Barcelona and Messi might fight a legal battle. In which case, the possibility is the Argentinian might end up his Barcelona career as a free-agent. Though, these are all talks. And there is no concrete evidence to back those claims.

Another question that followed up the absurd news was: what could be the next station for Lionel Messi? The names of Premier League clubs, including Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and even Leeds United, who is managed by Argentine gaffer Marcelo Bielsa, joined the likes of Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain.

But now, it has come up as if we can eliminate one name from that list, and that is of Manchester United, the club that had once been the home of one of the most renowned players this game has ever observed, Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to The Guardian, Manchester United have never been in contacts with Lionel Messi’s entourage. And hence, the fanbase could start again cursing the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward for letting the opportunity of signing one of the best players slip away.

On the other hand, they could appreciate United’s stance on keeping faith in their long-term project and to stick with their pans that had been made before the summer transfer window began.

We all know the mantra for Manchester United, since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the managerial job, has been: slow but steady wins the race. And consistency might be the key this time. But should that not be the case, Solskjaer might end up being in the same part as his last three predecessors did during their time at the red side of Manchester.

Where do you think Messi is going to join should he leave Barca this summer?