Lionel Messi could be Manchester City bound.

Lionel Messi could be Manchester City-bound.

It will almost certainly be his last payday before he hangs up those celebrated football boots but what a way to take your final curtain call. He is arguably one of the most extravagantly talented players in the world, some would say the best of all time but that has to be a subjective opinion because we all think we know who the greatest was or perhaps was but never given the credit for living up to that exalted standard.

Lionel Messi, rather like his former countryman Diego Maradona, is undoubtedly one of the finest playmakers, creators, inventors, and string-pullers of all time. Sadly, all the recognition, excessive publicity and adulation may never have been quite enough to elevate the Argentinian midfield catalyst onto the highest podium or that ultimate World Cup-winning stage, holding the one trophy that would have placed the final cherry on the cake of a highly commended and fabulous career.

But Messi has had enough of Barcelona, a man perhaps world-weary, satisfied with his achievements at the Nou Camp and ready for one last challenge, one rather less than taxing assignment. Messi has seen, touched, felt and experienced success in a heady, giddy lifetime in football. Messi is now wanted by Pep Guardiola, manager of a Manchester City side who probably thinks Messi could be one of the wisest investments he's ever made.

Time will tell of course but you can only assume City will be one of the main beneficiaries of a transfer that could be interpreted as one of the best pieces of business for both player and club. City have won more than their share of trophies in recent seasons including a couple of Premier League titles to boot but last season Jurgen Klopp's brilliant Liverpool had the effrontery to nick the Premier League away from City and that must rankle with the top brass at the Etihad Stadium.

Messi would be entitled to feel very blase about a move to Manchester City because maybe he feels as though he's won so much during his career that a move to City is just a last staging post. The body language he displayed at the World Cup in Russia though told you everything you needed to know about Messi. He could deliver the necessary goods at club level but when it came to pulling on an Argentina shirt, Messi was a chameleon, retreating back into his shell although always playing with a willing heart.

When subsequent World Cup winners France simply overwhelmed Argentina Messi could be seen gently cowering away, resigned to his fate, sluggish, disinterested, not really caring one way or the other. There was an air of indifference that didn't really become Messi because Messi is one of football's finest expressionists, a painter of pictures on a football pitch, a stylish midfield architect one minute and then breaking into the opposition's penalty area like an ambitious explorer climbing the foothills and gripping the crampons tightly.

The fact remains that Messi has never won the World Cup and judged on that sole criteria this would suggest that something is incomplete, frustratingly missing from the jigsaw puzzle. When his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys in Argentina took to the streets once again to hail their man with the glorious gifts Messi must have felt that he was still loved by his fans, the ones who would drool admiringly over their man's rich range of trickery and deception, that natural ability to dribble with  masterful ball control and then suddenly conjure some of the most beautifully taken goals of all time.

If Messi does get to play for Manchester City it'll be the first time a genuinely world-class player has expressed a desire to play for an English club. Neither Pele, Johan Cryuff nor Diego Maradona showed any hankering to play for either Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester United or any of the big time clubs that might have given their right arm for a player of Messi's stature. Now could be as good a time as any.

And so with two weeks to go before the official opening of the new Premier League season, Manchester City fans will be sitting on the edge of their seats full of breathless anticipation at the news they've all been waiting for rather like excited children on Christmas Day morning. Messi could mean the difference between City quite possibly winning the Champions League or maybe this is a voyage of discovery where both player and club simply meet up with each other rather like a holiday romance and the couple agree to keep in touch with each other.

But Messi you can be sure wants far more than a passionate relationship than a mere one year acquaintance. At 33, Messi would love to consummate something much more lasting than a season with City. You feel sure that Messi will arrive at Manchester with bold plans and stars in his eyes. The cynics though may be dismissing this as idle football gossip, a vanity project where Messi swans around the city of Manchester like some arrogant prima donna. Of course English football will welcome Messi with open arms but you can't help but feel that this will not go down as one of the most unforgettable transfer coups of all time. Let us remember Messi for who he is now rather than pretend that he'll be the answer to Manchester City's prayers. We can only wish him well.