It has been a wild 24 hours in Messi's inner circle since Barcelona announced they would part ways with the footballer, and while all eyes point to PSG and Manchester City, a third club could end up swooping the superstar to play in the Premier League.
According to a report by Spanish newspaper As states that Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich urged his team to have an "emergency meeting" where the main topic of discussion would be Messi's potential arrival to Stamford Bridge. The 2020-21 UEFA Champions League winners believe that they have the monetary muscle to try and lure the footballer to the English top-flight, even if they are trailing other teams, such as PSG, in the race to sign "La Pulga".
The Spanish newspaper suggests that Chelsea's owner has asked for a meeting with Messi's entourage to get to know first-hand what kind of contract he expects to sign. Abramovich's intention would be to take this matter into his own hands until Romelu Lukaku's signing is complete, and if that does not happen, then the Blues would go all in to hire the Argentine ace.
Abramovich is reportedly aware of Manchester City's slim chances of hiring Messi after spending over $100M on Jack Grealish's deal. Hence, the Russian businessman knows that he has the means to lure the player away from the French top-flight, but he must get to know the kind of deal he wants to sign.
As things stand, it seems that Chelsea's intention to sign Messi will not be successful, but the end of the transfer window is three weeks away and anything can happen in the race to hire the Argentine. Will he end up playing for a Premier League team such as Chelsea? We will have to wait and see.
