• Premier League

Sergio Aguero leads Manchester City chase for Messi

ESPN staff
December 3, 2014
Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi are firm friends © Getty Images
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Sergio Aguero says he plans to try to convince his Argentina team-mate Lionel Messi to join him at Manchester City.

Messi's future at Barcelona has become the subject of debate after the 27-year-old suggested in an interview with Argentine publication Ole that he could leave the Nou Camp next summer due to differences with some at the club.

"It will be difficult to convince him, but I will try," Aguero told Mundo Deportivo after winning the Football Supporters' Federation Player of the Year award. "It would be good if all the great players were in the Premier League."

Aguero and Messi are firm friends, having first played together in the Argentina youth-ranks. The pair won the 2005 Under-20 World Cup and then the Beijing Olympics in 2008 together, and are all key members of the current national senior side.

Messi's father has also said a move would be considered if Barcelona's directors accepted a bid from another club. This lead to speculation at which of Europe's richest clubs - a list that includes City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea and Real Madrid - would be able to afford the €250 million (£197m) release clause in the four time Ballon D'Or winner's contract.

But club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has played down any problems with Messi amid claims that the issue which prompted annoyance in the forward's camp was over continuing investigations into his tax affairs.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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