Lionel Messi might be considering a move to the Premier League

Does world soccer standout Lionel Messi want out of Barcelona? It sure sounds like he’s thinking about it.
Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have all sent out feelers to Messi’s camp, and that they all have been encouraged by the receptive response.

Messi signed a contract extension with Barcelona last year that pays him around $27 million per season, after taxes. His deal runs through 2018, and any team that wants to lure him away would have to shell out around $277 million to pay off his buyout clause. But with the Premier League’s mammoth new television-rights deals scheduled to kick in next season — the league will spread around $4.3 billion per season to its clubs starting in August 2016 — such an expense almost certainly wouldn’t be an obstacle to the EPL’s big spenders.

And there’s one more reason why Messi might want out of Spain: The country’s prosecution of Messi and his father on tax-fraud charges, allegations that could land both father and son in prison. The soccer star reportedly is fed up with the whole ordeal.

Guillem Balague, who penned Messi’s authorized biography, thinks the idea that Messi is listening to the Premier League pitches isn’t so far-fetched.

And in an interview with Balague that was published on Thursday, Messi didn’t exactly shoot down any of this:


GB: Can you ever see yourself playing in another league?

LM: I don’t want to look too far ahead. I live for the moment and at this moment I am with Barcelona in the Spanish League where I have made my living and where I live very well.

Stay tuned.