Lionel Messi’s eye-watering Man City £450m contract offer details emerge

Manchester City will offer Lionel Messi an incredible £450m five-year deal to quit Barcelona.

The Argentine signalled his intent to quit the Nou Camp when he sent the club a burofax earlier this week.

It has sent clubs around Europe into a frenzy, crunching the numbers to see whether they could make the move happen.

City, with their financial might and the lure of Pep Guardiola, are leading the race for Messi’s services.

And they will offer him £90m-a-year to move to the Etihad, reports SPORT.

That is a similar figure to what he currently earns in Catalunya, but he could make even more than that.

Reports suggest City bosses, who are part of a group who also own New York City FC, want Messi to move to the MLS to see out his career.

The 33-year-old will be offered a five-year deal, but after the third year they want him to move to the Big Apple – that would see Messi pick up a hefty bonus of £225m.

Currently those the six-time Ballon D’Or winner’s exit from Barcelona looks set to turn ugly amid different interpretations about his contract.

Messi has a clause which allows him to quit the Spanish club and leave for nothing, but that activation date has passed.

The player’s entourage however argue that the elongated nature of the season means he can still leave for free.

Barcelona though are determined to demand Messi’s £624m release clause if he is to leave, but La Liga have moved to dismiss this.

They issued a statement which outlined the situation and insist the global star can still leave for free.