Football
9y

Lionel Messi has never asked to sign Sergio Aguero - Barcelona president

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has denied that Lionel Messi ever asked for Manchester City attacker Sergio Aguero to be brought to the club.

Aguero, Messi's Argentina teammate, is known to be close to the Barcelona superstar, with the two having first played together in the Albiceleste youth ranks.

Regular speculation has suggested they could end up playing together at club level, at Barca or even at City.

Messi is often believed to have a certain influence on transfers at the Camp Nou, and reportedly wanted to see Barca move for Argentina centre-forward Gonzalo Higuain in the summer before he joined Napoli from Real Madrid.

More recently there were allegations that the 27-year-old had asked for coach Luis Enrique to be fired following a training-ground bust-up in early January.

However, the Bartomeu told Radiogaceta that talk of Messi making such demands was untrue.

When asked: "How many times has Messi asked for the signing of 'El Kun' [Aguero]," Bartomeu laughed and replied: "No, he has never asked us. Aguero is a great player -- he has a contract with City, and we have a lot of respect for players with a contract. Messi does not ask for signings.

"It is not true that Messi asked for the head of the coach. Luis Enrique has one more year on his contract, and will be Barca coach next season."

Despite Messi and Luis Enrique last week offering different versions of the reasons for Barca's recent 11-game winning run, Bartomeu said everyone at the club was focused on the aim of winning trophies.

"I agree with Messi's theory, and with Luis Enrique's," he said. "We had put together 11 wins, which is the most important. We expect that this season will bring trophies.

"We all do things and we are responsible for helping. In all clubs, things happen."

In early January, Messi suggested he did not know where he would be playing next season, but Bartomeu again stressed that the player was happy.

"[Messi] is delighted at Barcelona," he said. "In fact, he is one more Catalan. We have Messi for years to come, and I hope he hangs up his boots here."

In the shorter term, Messi is sure to be in the team for Tuesday's Champions League round of 16 first leg against City, when Luis Enrique is likely to start the same XI that eliminated Atletico Madrid from the Copa del Rey.

That means goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen, Javier Mascherano and Ivan Rakitic will come into the team shocked 1-0 by Malaga at the Camp Nou on Saturday, with Claudio Bravo, Jeremy Mathieu and Rafinha stepping down.

A club statement released after training on Monday confirmed that there were no late injury concerns ahead of the game.

"Barca have ended a busy day in Manchester with a training session," the statement said. "The 21 players who have made the trip to England trained on Monday evening in the rain following the appearances of both Luis Enrique and Gerard Pique before the press."

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