JOSE MOURINHO took a swipe at Manchester City as he joked Lionel Messi would only join a club “who doesn’t respect Financial Fair Play”.
The Barcelona skipper is set to leave the club he joined nearly 20 years ago when his contract expires next summer.
Jose Mourinho could not resist a cheeky swipe at Manchester City when asked about signing Lionel MessiCredit: Reuters
A reunion with Pep Guardiola at City is the most likely option with the Etihad club among the few able to afford his mammoth wages.
It is reported City’s owners were winning to stump up £623million across five years – three in Manchester and then two at sister-club New York City FC.
That would have worked out at a staggering £2.4m per week for Messi – or £343,000 per day.
Unsurprisingly, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner was in line for sport’s biggest pay packet of all time.
Speaking to JOE in association with the Top Eleven manager game, Mourinho was asked whether there was any interesting in signing the Barcelona great.
And he could not resist the cheeky dig as he said: “No, not for Tottenham. Just for Top Eleven.
“We respect the Financial Fair Play at Tottenham.
“He can only go to a team that doesn’t respect Financial Fair Play, so it’s not Tottenham for sure.”
Messi is expected to leave Barcelona next summer with the Etihad club his most likely destinationCredit: Reuters
City were famously slapped with a two-year European suspension and fined £25million for breaching FFP rules in February.
After a lengthy investigation, City were found guilty by Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) of falsely inflating their sponsorship revenues when submitting accounts as part of the FFP compliance process.
But the Etihad lawyers argued their case in an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and had the ban overturned in July.
Lionel Messi trains with Barcelona for first time since failed transfer request as he prepares for new season
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
