Guardiola: I Want Messi to Stay at Barcelona

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday that he wants Argentina's captain  Lionel Messi to finish his career at Barcelona.

Guardiola signed a two-year contract extension with City on Thursday and was immediately linked with his ex-player, who came close to moving last summer.

Messi's contract is set to expire next summer and he could sign pre-contract terms with any club outside Spain from 1 January.

"Messi is a Barcelona player. I said it a thousand times. As a fan, I want Leo to finish there," Guardiola said, according to BBC. 

Argentine playmaker Messi had looked set to join City after putting in a transfer request in August, only for Barcelona's then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu to block the transfer.

"His contract finishes this year [season] and I don't know what will happen in his mind," Guardiola added. .

Paris St-Germain have also been in talks with the 33-year-old, although every candidate Barcelona presidential election - to be held in January - has said it is a priority for them to persuade Messi to stay at the Nou Camp.

"I have huge gratitude for Barcelona and what they have done for me," said Guardiola, who worked with Messi when managing Barcelona between 2008 and 2012."

"In the academy, as a player and a manager, they gave me absolutely everything. Right now Messi is a Barcelona player and the transfer market is in June and July.

"We have incredible games and targets and things we would like to achieve. That is the only thing in our mind. The rest, I cannot say anything."