Pep Guardiola echoes Jose Mourinho's statement on having Lionel Messi finish his career at Barcelona in a recent press event on Friday.
It's more common than not for Josep Guardiola to be asked by the media about Lionel Messi, his former charge in Barcelona and the best player in the world for the ex-Barca manager. On Friday, Guardiola was asked again in a press event on Manchester City's match preview against Burnley on speculations of Messi joining Man City once his contract in Barcelona is up.
Guardiola responds that "I've said this more than once: Messi is going to end his career at Barcelona." He adds that, "That's what I profoundly wish, that he ends his career in Barcelona," as per Sport.
Lionel Messi is due for a contract renewal in 2018, but so far, he has not yet extended his contract to Barca. There are reports of Manchester City making an offer to Messi and reuniting him with his former coach, Guardiola. Man City executive Ferran Soriano have said that Messi is welcome at the Etihad if he ever decides to leave Barcelona. Soriano has also denied reports that Man City tried to sign up Messi or his teammates Neymar, Luis Suarez or Sergio Brusquets in the summer.
With Guardiola's recent statement, it's clear that there's no plans yet for Lionel Messi to join him in Manchester City despite the speculation. At this point in time, only Messi himself knows whether or not he will sign up again with Barcelona, where he has played since the age of 13, or he might look for greener pastures in the Premier League.
