INTER HAVE NO plans to try and sign Lionel Messi nor the financial means to engineer a deal for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, a club official said on Tuesday.
“I don’t know where some ideas can come from,” Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio told Sky Sport Italia.
The Serie A runners-up have been linked with a move for Messi along with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain in the event that he should leave Barcelona per his signalled intention.
“No coach, no president wouldn’t want Messi in their team. But the reality is very different,” Ausilio added, as the Italian transfer window officially opened on Tuesday.
Advertisement
“Our reality is a sensible transfer market.”
Ausilio also said the club was in negotiations with Roma to sign Serbian defender Aleksandar Kolarov while insisting Lautaro Martinez will stay put despite longstanding interest from Barcelona.
Meanwhile, back on the Messi front, the Argentine was again absent from Barcelona’s pre-season training session on Tuesday, seemingly upping the stakes in his battle to leave the Catalan giants this summer.
After skipping coronavirus tests on Sunday, Messi on Monday also missed Ronald Koeman’s first session in charge since being appointed manager last month.
It appears increasingly likely that the footballing icon will try to force a transfer by refusing to play in La Liga next season, which begins on 12 September.
Lawyers for Messi last week sent Barca a legal letter in which they announced his desire to rescind his contract by triggering a longstanding exit clause.
The club appear adamant that this clause — which would allow Messi to walk away without his future club paying any of the €700m fee in his separate release clause — expired on 10 June, and that he therefore remains under contract until the end of the 2021 season when he would be free to leave, again in June, with no strings attached.
However, Messi and his representatives reportedly maintain that the deadline for this exit clause should have been extended from 10 June to 31 August in light of the fact that the 2019/20 season was extended by a commensurate period of time due to the coronavirus.
Manchester City are understood to be favourites to land the forward’s signature should he indeed force his way out of Barcelona, while Paris Saint-Germain are also believed to be in the running. Neither club, however, has addressed their purported interest in Messi publicly.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
15 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
And then there were two? - Inter rule out move for wantaway Lionel Messi
INTER HAVE NO plans to try and sign Lionel Messi nor the financial means to engineer a deal for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, a club official said on Tuesday.
“I don’t know where some ideas can come from,” Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio told Sky Sport Italia.
The Serie A runners-up have been linked with a move for Messi along with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain in the event that he should leave Barcelona per his signalled intention.
“No coach, no president wouldn’t want Messi in their team. But the reality is very different,” Ausilio added, as the Italian transfer window officially opened on Tuesday.
“Our reality is a sensible transfer market.”
Ausilio also said the club was in negotiations with Roma to sign Serbian defender Aleksandar Kolarov while insisting Lautaro Martinez will stay put despite longstanding interest from Barcelona.
Meanwhile, back on the Messi front, the Argentine was again absent from Barcelona’s pre-season training session on Tuesday, seemingly upping the stakes in his battle to leave the Catalan giants this summer.
After skipping coronavirus tests on Sunday, Messi on Monday also missed Ronald Koeman’s first session in charge since being appointed manager last month.
It appears increasingly likely that the footballing icon will try to force a transfer by refusing to play in La Liga next season, which begins on 12 September.
Lawyers for Messi last week sent Barca a legal letter in which they announced his desire to rescind his contract by triggering a longstanding exit clause.
The club appear adamant that this clause — which would allow Messi to walk away without his future club paying any of the €700m fee in his separate release clause — expired on 10 June, and that he therefore remains under contract until the end of the 2021 season when he would be free to leave, again in June, with no strings attached.
However, Messi and his representatives reportedly maintain that the deadline for this exit clause should have been extended from 10 June to 31 August in light of the fact that the 2019/20 season was extended by a commensurate period of time due to the coronavirus.
Manchester City are understood to be favourites to land the forward’s signature should he indeed force his way out of Barcelona, while Paris Saint-Germain are also believed to be in the running. Neither club, however, has addressed their purported interest in Messi publicly.
© – AFP, 2020
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
got no plans Lionel Messi