Barcelona now ‘confident’ of signing Lionel Messi and Man City icon in mouth-watering double swoop

Barcelona manager Xavi is looking to make some big additions this summer, but due to the club’s financial issues, he could be limited to out-of-contract players.

Luckily for the Spaniard, however, there could be some incredible free options available to him, including Catalans icon Lionel Messi, and Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

Indeed, Barcelona are tipped to go in for both players in the coming months, with the club now reportedly having a belief that they can get the deals done.

This is according to Football Espana, who, citing reports coming out of Spain, state the LaLiga giants are now ‘confident’ they can resign Messi and bring in Gundogan.

Barca had to approach the transfer market in a similar fashion last summer, signing the likes of Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie after their contracts ended at Chelsea and AC Milan respectively.

Despite their lack of available funds, Xavi has helped guide his team back to the top of LaLiga, with them currently sitting 11 points clear of bitter rivals Real Madrid and on their way to their first title in two years.

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Gundogan now expected to join Barca

As previously revealed by TEAMtalk, Gundogan has been offered a new short term deal at the Etihad, but is expected to turn down Pep Guardiola’s proposal in favour of a switch elsewhere.

Now, despite Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich registering an interest in the German midfielder, it is expected that he will be playing for Barcelona next season.

Indeed, when questioned on a potential move to the Camp Nou, the 32-year-old refused to rule it out.

“Barcelona deal done? My future is not yet decided — obviously, there are talks in the background,” he said.

But I won’t go into details now. I have not signed anything yet.”

Messi tipped to return to the Camp Nou

Messi’s return to the Barcelona would certainly the most eye-catching move, though, given his unparalleled success with the Spanish giants.

In an incredible 17-year stint with Barcelona, the Argentine legend scored a ridiculous 672 goals in 778 appearances, helping his team to win 10 LaLiga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Copa del Reys – as well as winning six Ballon d’Ors in the process.

Messi may not be the player he once was, but after helping Argentina to win the World Cup for the first time since 1986, he is still quite obviously a top quality player.

Interestingly, the duo could be joined by another high profile name – Roberto Firmino, whose Liverpool contract is set to expire this summer.

Bringing in Messi, Gundogan and Firmino for free would almost definitely be the biggest bargain in the history of football – so it will be very interesting to see if Barca can pull it off.

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