The Hilarious Story of Why Lionel Messi Didn't Sign for Manchester City

Pep Guardiola warned Messi about former Burnley manager Sean Dyche.

Lionel Messi (right) was in Manchester City's orbit before he joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. | Imago/PA Images

During the twilight of the Lionel Messi era in Barcelona, there was plenty of speculation surrounding the Argentine star's potential arrival to the Premier League with Manchester City.

Ultimately, the blockbuster transfer never happened and Messi instead joined his close friend Neymar Jr. at Paris Saint-Germain for two seasons before leaving Europe altogether to move to Inter Miami in MLS.

In Martí Perarnau's Pep Guardiola biography titled "The Pep Revolution," it was disclosed that Messi had an extended conversation with his former Barcelona manager about a possible reunion on the blue side of Manchester. Guardiola warned Messi of the challenges he'd face if the move came to fruition, including having to face the physical and aggressive style of one particular manager.

Sean Dyche was Burnley's manager during the early years of the decade and recently went on talkSPORT, revealing that following the Covid-19 pandemic, he had a conversation with Guardiola where he asked about the possibility of Messi joining City. It was during this conversation that Dyche learned he was one of the things Guardiola warned Messi about, as he recalls the hilarious exchange.

“Lionel [Messi] no way he can come to Manchester City,” Guardiola told Dyche after being asked about the situation. “Because I told Lionel it rains. It rains and rains. And when it stops raining, it rains again.

“Lionel, on a Monday night, you have to go to Burnley, Sean's [Dyche] team. And they go bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,” Dyche recalled Guardiola saying, struggling to contain his laughter. “I went, ‘That's exactly what we're going to do, Pep, You warned him correctly.’ Me and Brucey [Steve Bruce] were crying, honestly. It was genius. Pep, brilliant,” Dyche said.

The thought of seeing the greatest player of all time taking the pitch at Turf Moor with incessant rain falling and getting hit by wave after wave of Burnley tackles feels incredibly surreal, but that was what awaited him if he ever came across a Dyche-led team.

There were plenty of factors that led to Messi never landing in the Premier League, however, the brutally physical nature of Dyche's teams being one of the things Guardiola warned him about that might've discouraged him from making the move to England is hilarious to think about.

---