Barcelona news: Chairman of Inter Milan's chief sponsor dreams of signing Lionel Messi
There has been lots of speculation over the future of Barcelona star, Lionel Messi, with the latest news reports claiming that he is a dream target for Inter Milan. Barcelona's contract negotiations with Messi are reported to have hit a temporary roadblock which is keeping all the other big European clubs interested at the moment.
Rumour mills have been rife with Messi already having been linked to Manchester City because of the presence of the former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, and also with PSG after Marca reported that the PSG director Patrick Kluivert had got in touch with Messi's father to discuss a potential move to the French capital.
Now a sensational move to Inter Milan is the latest speculation surrounding the 29-year-old, with Corriere dello Sport reporting that Messi is a dream target for the Nerazzurri.
Marco Tronchetti Provera, a former Inter director and chairman of the club's chief sponsor, Pirelli, told Corriere dello Sport that it is his 'dream' to convince Messi to move to San Siro.
"There is one dream that is always the same: Messi," he told Corriere dello Sport. "He always has been. I'm always an optimist and I know that sometimes dreams do come true."
Such sensational optimism seems to be coming from a sheer desperation to rejuvenate Inter's fortunes as they are currently eight points behind AC Milan, who now occupy the final Champions League spot in the Serie A table.
Messi is yet to sign an extension with his contract expiring in 2018 amidst reports that Messi had turned down a new deal in July as he was extremely unhappy with Barcelona's treatment of him during the tax fraud court case.
Talks with the Catalan giant are set to resume soon when his father flies to Barcelona to watch the El Clasico. Messi reportedly wants £825,000-a-week to sign, which is £300,000 more than what Cristiano Ronaldo gets paid at the moment.
The Barcelona chiefs are confident of tying down Messi to a new contract that will keep him at the club until the end of his career but his outrageous wage demands might prove to be a major hindrance with expensive contract extensions for Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic in the pipeline at the moment.
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