Manchester City, Paris SG, Inter Milan ... Faced with the desires of Lionel Messi elsewhere, which shook the football planet on Tuesday, few clubs seem able to welcome the Argentine superstar and his astronomical salary. And FC Barcelona will undoubtedly do everything to retain him ...

PSG: the crazy dream of a Neymar-Messi

In Paris SG, the hypothesis of an attacking trio associating the superstars Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi has enough to make the supporters salivate, especially as "Ney" and "Leo" have remained very close since their years Barcelona (2013-2017). But with the staggering salaries granted to Parisian stars, according to UEFA, PSG had the third highest wage bill in Europe (337 M EUR) in 2018, just behind FC Barcelona (529 M EUR) and Real Madrid (431 M EUR).

Very constrained by financial fair play, even if UEFA has recently softened its contours, and weighed down by the shortfall of the health crisis estimated internally at more than EUR 200 million, PSG seems rather to be engaged in a asceticism cure, with the departure of some big salaries like Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani. And Messi's current salary is estimated at EUR 60m by Forbes magazine.

Under these conditions, the French daily L'Equipe, citing Parisian leaders, considers the operation "impossible" today for PSG ... But the Parisian club and its opulent Qatari owners had they not invested 400 M EUR in 2017 for the Neymar-Mbappé doublet?

City: Guardiola-Aguero connection

Favorite of bookmakers, Manchester City would be the ideal destination for Messi, given his financial strength and the presence of Pep Guardiola, the coach who brought Messi to the rank of megastar in Barcelona (with two coronations in C1 in particular). According to the press, Guardiola had a discussion with Messi last week.

Although the priority of the Citizens is to strengthen the defense, the arrival of the striker would multiply the attacking power of a team which already scored more than a hundred goals in the Premier League last season, with Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero, great friend and compatriot of the "Pulga".

But like Paris, the wealthy Manchester City - its leaders from Barça (Ferran Soriano executive director, Txiki Begiristain, technical director) and its owners in Abu Dhabi - will have to use ingenuity to respect financial fair play, against which the English club have just obtained a resounding victory before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Inter Milan: Ronaldo and tax benefits

Although "City and PSG are on pole" to welcome the Argentinian superstar, as Gazzetta Dello Sport wrote on Wednesday, "the Nerazzurri can dream".

The Italian sports newspaper has argued that Lionel Messi's father and agent has already acquired a luxurious house in central Milan, and speculated that the prodigal son could join him soon, to do the same. path that his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Real Madrid to join Italy and Juventus Turin in 2018 for 105m EUR.

Sentenced by the tax authorities in Spain, Messi could find refuge in Italy: by registering his main residence there, the Messi clan would benefit from a tax reduction made to foreigners to encourage them to invest in the country.

"Zhang won: Conte stays ... and Inter calls Messi!". According to Tuttosport, Messi's future at Inter could be linked to the future of coach Antonio Conte, confirmed in his post on Tuesday after speculation about a possible departure.

To read also: Earthquake in Barcelona: Lionel Messi wants to leave Barca, anger of the supporters

FC Barcelona: really finished

What if the best choice for Messi was to stay in Barcelona? President Josep Maria Bartomeu, against whom Messi went into "total war" according to the Catalan press, is under fire from criticism after a nightmarish season, and threatened by a motion of censure filed this Wednesday morning by the opponent Jordi Farre.

According to the Spanish specialized press, the management committee met in an extraordinary session on Tuesday evening to answer the player that he was in contract until June 30, 2021 and that the club was counting on him for the coming season.

But Messi has decided not to show up for training from Sunday, revealed this Wednesday the sports director of Barça Ramon Planes, who assured the press that "internally, we are working to convince Messi, to find the best solution for Barça and for Messi ".

Barca want to retain him, but the Pulga did not appreciate the speech of new coach Ronald Koeman during their first interview last Thursday, and this interview, combined with the fact that Koeman communicated to Luis Suarez (Barca striker and great friend of Messi ) that he did not count on him for next season, precipitated the desire to start the six-fold Ballon d'Or.