Many clubs have been linked since he sent a burofax to the club on Tuesday, but the club in the best position to sign him are Manchester City.

Contact between the player and the English club has already taken place.

There are certainly some strong draws for Messi, such as the chance to reunite with Pep Guardiola, the coach who he enjoyed his greatest successes with, and the opportunity to play with lifelong friend Sergio Aguero.

Many other clubs have been linked too, though, such as PSG, Inter, Manchester United and Newell’s Old Boys, his boyhood club in Argentina.

PSG would be attractive to Messi too for a few reasons, like the chance to play with Neymar and Angel Di Maria, but it would be a difficult operation for the French club since they already have a huge wage bill.

With Inter, it’s also less likely and this is because the Italian club aren’t at the same competitive level as Manchester City or PSG and also because Serie A isn’t a league that particularly attracts the player.

The Manchester United option is even less likely, while there hasn’t been any serious talk about Messi returning to Argentina and to Newell’s at this time.

This is why Manchester City have emerged as the leading candidate to sign the Argentine, even though Barcelona still don’t believe his exit is inveitable.

“Barcelona are not contemplating Messi’s departure, we want him to stay,” new sporting director Ramon Planes told the media on Wednesday.

There’s talk of a potential meeting between Messi and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, although this hasn’t been confirmed by either party.

Barcelona will try to convince him to remain at the Camp Nou, but if he does leave then Manchester City will be a serious option for him since they could pay a transfer fee if needed and they could afford his wages.

ESPN have even reported that Messi could be offered a contract to play for City for three years in the Premier League and to then spend two with the ownership group’s MLS team New York City FC.