 "Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, is congratulated by Brazil's Neymar, left, after winning the FIFA Men's soccer player of the year 2015 prize during the FIFA Ballon d'Or awarding ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, January 11")
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has said that Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi will not join the English Premier League side.
"No. I don't think so," the former Barcelona vice president told Xinhua.
"I know Messi very well. He and his family are my good friends. I think he has settled in Barcelona. He has been in Barcelona all his life," he was quoted as saying.
But Soriano, who worked in Barcelona between 2003 and 2008, did not exclude the star's possibility of leaving Nou Camp when his contract expires next year.
"Or at least next year, maybe he can finish that career (in Barcelona). After that, he can go to China or US. But now I think he will stay in Barcelona."
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Messi has been linked with a move to the Etihad ever since his mentor, Pep Guardiola, first joined the Manchester club last summer.
Messi, who turns 30 later this month, is talking about a new deal with Barcelona and reports said that he will take home 504,000 pounds-a-week in a deal worth 26 million pounds a season.
