Manchester City reportedly preparing a £200million deal to sign Lionel Messi

Manchester City will break the bank to sign Lionel Messi.

The Etihad club are putting together a stunning financial package in excess of £200million in a bid to land Barcelona’s unsettled Argentine ace next summer.

City bosses are drawing up a plan that will see them pay Barca a world-record transfer fee in excess of £100m as well as handing Messi a basic wage of £500,000-a-week.

The Blues believed that their appointment of Messi's former Barca boss Pep Guardiola as manager last summer would put them in pole position to sign the player should be ever decide to leave the Nou Camp.

And that confidence has now exploded following the Spanish champions’ failure to convince the 29-year-old to sign a new contract.

Messi has a £215m buy-out clause in his current deal but his contract will expire in 2018, and Barca know they will be forced to sell the four-time World Footballer of the Year next summer or risk losing him for nothing 12 months later.

City are one of the few clubs who could meet the financial demands of a deal that will shatter the £89m world-record fee neighbours Manchester United paid Juventus for Paul Pogba earlier this year.

Paris Saint-Germain, Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea and United would also be in the mix for Messi, while clubs in the cash-rich Chinese League could offer the forward an even bigger fortune than he could pick up in Europe.

But the prospect of linking up with Guardiola again is a huge attraction.

The City boss has been promised unlimited funds to build a team that will dominate both the Premier League and Champions League.

And Messi is his dream signing.