Lionel Messi hogged the football spotlight recently when the possibility of him leaving Barcelona and jumping to the Premier League started shaping up. The living legend was supposed to reunite with former boss Pep Guardiola and make Manchester City his new home. But the English club was forbidden from the Champions League, and the ban will last two years.
UEFA has found that City violated the regulations governing the Old Continent, so the punishment meted out was two seasons of banishment from the competition that football clubs and players are dreaming of being part of.
In the immediate aftermath of the shocking development, Guardiola is now the subject of rumors that claim he will soon walk away from his contract with Manchester in search of a better place. According to Forbes, big money awaits the Spanish boss in France where he would take charge of Paris Saint-Germain at the start of the new season this year.
With that in play, Messi has one less reason to reconsider his supposed plan of changing jerseys at the end of the campaign. The prospect of working with Guardiola is no longer a strong possibility, so the Argentine striker, widely considered as the among the greatest of all time, has to look elsewhere if indeed he plans moving out of Camp Nou by the season's end.
However, the most obvious turn-off for Messi now, as far as Manchester City is concerned, is the likelihood of not playing in the Champions League for a stretch of two years if he should end up joining up with the club, according to Fox Sports.
City officials have indicated they will appeal the UEFA decision, but if the judgment stays, then the club will be locked out from the competition for consecutive seasons. At 33, being prevented from playing and winning a title that is the dream of every footballer is not promising at all.
"Without the prospect of Champions League football, Messi's wandering eyes could be forced to look elsewhere - and he won't be the only star with an eye for silverware deterred by the recent news," the report said.
Also, Messi will need to think about another possible setback for City - that the Premier League will deal with the club's infraction. There were suggestions City will be punished on the same violation with a deduction of 10 points at the start of the upcoming season.
For Messi, that would mean staring at a lockout of major titles in the next two years - no Champions League and possibly no Premier League wins as well. So for the Barca hero, Manchester City should be out of the question if he still wants to get out of Spanish football.
It seems now that the best alternative for Messi is to wait out on the speculations that Juventus will hire Guardiola to come true. He can then follow his former boss to the Turin club and write history by pairing up with Cristiano Ronaldo.
