Reports: Manchester City had Leo Messi alternative lined up before move for Barcelona captain collapsed

Manchester City were involved in what potentially could have been the biggest transfer saga of the decade until very recently. The former champions were in pole position to land Barcelona captain Lionel Messi this summer after the Argentine made his intentions of wanting to leave the Nou Camp clear.

However, LaLiga Santander interfered and refuted claims from Messi's camp that the reported €700m clause does not exist for the 2020/21 campaign.

The saga came to an abrupt end after the six-time Ballon d'Or winner revealed the truth in an explosive interview in which he called out the lack of a project at the club.

20+ - Lionel Messi is the only player to score 20+ goals in 12 consecutive @LaLigaEN seasons: ✅23 - 08/09✅34 - 09/10✅31 - 10/11✅50 - 11/12✅46 - 12/13✅28 - 13/14✅43 - 14/15✅26 - 15/16✅37 - 16/17✅34 - 17/18✅36 - 18/19✅20 - 19/20Stellar. pic.twitter.com/WREVUTcgc9

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 13, 2020

From Manchester City's perspective, this summer would have been the ideal scenario to land the 33-year-old, who shared an excellent relationship with manager Pep Guardiola. Despite the move falling through, there could still be a high-profile purchase up Manchester City's sleeve.

Sam Lee, the Manchester City correspondent for The Athletic, suggests that although the Cityzens were working on a deal for Messi, they had an alternative for the Argentine lined up all this while. It was always going to be a tricky operation to bring Messi out of Barcelona, due to which City had a backup plan in the pipelines.

Unfortunately, the identity of this mystery forward has not been revealed.

Guardiola wanted Timo Werner.....he went to Chelsea.... https://t.co/oarGFgL59L

— Jan Aage Fjortoft 🏳️‍🌈 🇳🇴 (@JanAageFjortoft) September 4, 2020

City have been linked with a host of forwards over the summer, including Barcelona target Lautaro Martinez, Chelsea's latest signing Timo Werner, and Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix.

The German reportedly turned down the opportunity to work with Guardiola as per football journalist Christian Falk, while they could potentially lose out on the signature of Lautaro to Barcelona.

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Manchester City still working on Kalidou Koulibaly deal

City target Kalidou Koulibaly

Although their potential move for Lionel Messi fell through, Manchester City are still in the process of negotiating a deal for Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli. The Senegalese star is one of the most well-established central defenders in the world after a handful of impressive seasons in Naples.

Koulibaly's signing will be a timely boost to Manchester City's backline due to the likes of John Stones and Nico Otamendi falling out of favour at the Etihad Stadium. The pair have called down the pecking order to an extent where Fernandinho, a defensive midfielder by trade, was shoe-horned into defence for the 2019/20 campaign due to their lack of central defenders.

Fernandinho was largely used in defence last year

Eric Garcia was widely expected to depart to Barcelona either this summer or the next, but there has been no further update on the young Spaniard's status.

Reports in Italy claim that the Partonopei are holding out for a figure of €70m for their Senegalese defender, a figure which Manchester City are trying to bring down using clauses and add-ons.

Ferran Torres gets the No.21 shirt, City confirm

— Sam Lee (@SamLee) August 28, 2020

Guardiola's side have already completed deals for Valencia wonderkid Ferran Torres and Bournemouth's versatile defender Nathan Ake early on in the window.

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