goal.com
The Premier League club are confident the former Barca boss will move to the Etihad Stadium next summer but know he is key to pushing ahead with signing the world's best players.
Manchester City can start to move ahead with grand plans designed to take the club to the next level given their increasing confidence that Pep Guardiola will take over at the Etihad Stadium next summer.
Guardiola has finally revealed that he will leave Bayern Munich when his contract expires at the end of this season, but has thus far steadfastly refused to shed any light on his next destination.
City, however, firmly believe the Catalan only has eyes for the Etihad and the club will now be able to float the prospect of working with the sought-after coach in a bid to entice the world's finest players.
The Blues' recruitment policy has not always been perfect - indeed, given some previous failures Txiki Begiristain may have some questions to answer if he does not manage secure Pep's services - but the current strategy is to spend big money on world-class, or potentially world-class, players.
Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi were last summer's headline arrivals, costing around £140m between them and the club are prepared to blow that figure out of the water come July and August 2016.
The City Football Group are prepared to give Guardiola everything he needs to build a dynasty in Manchester, and one inevitable name in the frame is Lionel Messi.
City's desire to sign the Barcelona star, like their interest in Guardiola, is nothing new. Many fans, Blue or otherwise, may baulk at the idea of the world's best player rocking up in Manchester but there was already a degree of confidence behind the scenes that the unthinable could become a reality.
Guardiola's presence, combined with years of jostling for position should Messi ever become available, could prove to be the key to what would be the biggest transfer in history.
As ever, the chances of it happening hinge on whether Messi ever wants to leave Barca in the first place. It is reported that there has been some encouragement from the Argentine's entourage that he is weighing up his options and willing to look elsewhere. There is also the very real need for Barcelona to come up with the pot of gold that would enable them to renew the contracts of both Neymar and Messi. The Argentie's ongoing tax case has caused serious consternation, too.
City believe that they are handily placed if the perfect storm brews and Messi does decide to take on a new challenge and leave the club where he made his name and the case to become considered as the finest footballer in history.
Begiristain and Ferrano Soriano are the two City chiefs whose Barcelona links are well known, but Omar Berrada, the commercial director of the City Football Group who recently played a key role in a $400m investment from an influential Chinese consortium, also worked as the head of sponsorship at Camp Nou. If anybody knows the potential marketing value of the world's best player, to a club making its move in the Asian market, it is Berrada.
The money generated by Messi himself, combined with City's improving revenue and the new Premier League television deals - both domestic and global - mean the financing, though astronomical, should take care of itself.
In that regard, the ball is in Messi's court. Despite his current concerns at Camp Nou, it is still difficult to see him playing elsewhere. Guardiola in charge at City, however, would be another factor which could convince the four-time Ballon d'Or winner that it would be worth his while, in football terms as well as financial, to make the biggest decision of his career.
But while Guardiola is far and away City's top choice as the club's next manager, all of their eggs, in a playing sense, are not in the Messi basket.
Goal has learned that Paul Pogba would be particularly keen on a move to the Etihad Stadium if the opportunity to work with Guardiola is available. Pogba appeared close to joining Barcelona last summerr, but other clubs have entered the picture once again and City, as part of their stellar name-led recruitment drive, will put themselves firmly in the frame to sign him.
Last month Pogba was pictured in Manchester, where his mother and many friends still live following his time at Old Trafford, and despite some undue rumour mongering he is understood to be open to move back to England. It is likely to cost upwards of £70 million to prise him from Juventus but, with City now profitable for the first time in the Sheikh Mansour era, those types of figures should not be regarded as prohibitive.
That is also a factor in their ongoing interest in John Stones. Everton sent Chelsea packing last summer despite receiving bids of up to £40m, and the Toffees will no doubt welcome a bidding war come the end of the season should they finally bow to the desire of the player to quit Goodison Park.
City are usually loathe to become involved in such competitive negotiations but such is Stones' talent and the club's vast cash reserves - not to mention the persistent problems at centre-back - they are also likely to be involved in the conversation should Everton and Stones be willing to do business.
With or without Stones, City's centre-back options are likely to look very different this time next year. Galatasaray's attempts to sign Jason Denayer on a permanent basis have been rebuffed by the Blues, who are keen to give the Belgian - who can be registered as a homegrown player in Uefa squad lists - his chance to make a mark on the first team.
Martin Demichelis is likely to leave regardless of the man in charge, with moves to MLS or Argentina mooted, and doubts remain over the future of Eliaquim Mangala. The Frenchman was himself a big-money arrival from Porto in 2013 but has struggled to settle into a consistent run of good form and, with Otamendi preferred as Vincent Kompany's partner, there are concerns in his camp about his chances at the Etihad.
A loan move to Valencia was on the table as part of the deal to bring Otamendi to Manchester in August, and there remains every possibility that Mestalla, where Jorge Mendes holds considerable sway, could still be Mangala's next destination.
Those moves may not necessarily depend on Guardiola - although the rigorousness with which he trained his centre-backs, Jerome Boateng in particular, when he arrived at Bayern suggests he will have very specific ideas about what he wants from his defenders - but there are two further names which would smooth his transition.
Goal has previously reported City's interest in Thiago Alcantara, the midfielder brought to Bayern Munich by Guardiola quickly after he took up office at Sabener Strasse in 2013. Having worked together at Barcelona, Pep sees the Brazilian as one of the few players capable of not only grasping his footballing philosophy immediately, but helping his team-mates adapt to the demanding coach.
Another such player, despite never having worked together, is Luis Suarez. Sources have told Goal that Guardiola is a long-term admirer of the Uruguayan and he is extremely keen to work with him at some point in his career.
Bayern saw a bid for Suarez rejected before he moved from Liverpool to Camp Nou, and short of returning to the club where he made his name as a coach, that may well have been Guardiola's last chance to link up with the forward.
Suarez has said that he would not leave Barca for any club, even if he were paid three times the money. Barca certainly would not welcome any interest in any sense; the club's wage bill is currently 73 per cent of their total turnover - a healthy balance is closer to 50% - and, thanks to club rules, the board will have to step down within two years if the ratio is not reduced.
Already keen to tie down Neymar and Messi to new, big-money deals - despite needing to cut expenditure or dramatically increase revenue - the Catalans could certainly do without needing to convince Suarez of their faith in him with a bumper contract.
Suarez, then, is unlikely to turn out in Blue in any time soon. But many other top names in world football, including Pogba, Stones, Thiago and Messi, may be tempted to take City to the next level.
As ever, there are many different issues at play. Pep is just one piece of the grand puzzle but, in the coming months, an awful lot more will fall into place.
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