Manchester United Race To Sign Lionel Messi And Give Him Cristiano Ronaldo’s Number 7 Shirt: Reports

Manchester United are interested in signing Lionel Messi and could even offer him the iconic number ‘7’ shirt once worn by generational rival Cristiano Ronaldo, El Nacional has reported.

The Argentine becomes a free agent on June 30 when his Paris Saint Germain contract expires. On Monday evening, L’Equipe released a snippet from a report published on Tuesday alleging that Messi will leave the Ligue 1 giants unless he agrees to take a pay cut.

The same French sports magazine reported last week that Messi currently earns €3.375 million ($3.7 million) a month, putting him third on their list of French football’s biggest earners with teammates Neymar in second and the World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Player in 2022 according to Forbes, Kylian Mbappe, in first place.

PSG are experiencing difficulties in navigating Financial Fair Play limits, which is why they need Messi to reduce his wages. Yet one outfit without such issues is Manchester United who, according to El Nacional, want to offer Messi a new challenge in his storied career.

Messi has of course never even played in the Premier League, let alone won what is considered the greatest domestic championship. Under Erik ten Hag, he could help the Mancunians lift their first English top flight title since 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson was still manager, and also possibly inherit Cristiano Ronaldo’s number ‘7’ shirt.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner was heavily linked to Manchester City in the summer of 2020, when he sent the infamous Burofax that demanded then-president Josep Bartomeu release him from his FC Barcelona contract.

Messi ended up staying at Camp Nou for another season, but then left for PSG the following year when the Catalans failed to offer him a new contract that would also allow them to fall in line with La Liga’s strict salary cap.

Though Manchester United have long been one of the biggest football clubs in the world, it seems difficult to believe that Messi would entertain playing for another European side that is not PSG or Barca, or wear a shirt number he has never been associated with which would also provoke Ronaldo.

As confirmed by vice president Rafa Yuste on Friday, Barca are working on a potential prodigal son return for their greatest ever player but also face their own financial hurdles.

With the 2022/2023 season drawing in its final stretch, however, we are likely to have clarity on Messi’s future in the next couple of months.