Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has revealed that the Blues are among the mix of top European sides looking to sign Lionel Messi this summer after a series of recent developments confirmed that the Argentine forward has handed in a transfer request at FC Barcelona.
Messi shocked the world on Tuesday night by reportedly sending a fax to the FC Barcelona board asserting his desire to leave the La Liga giants ahead of the upcoming season. The 33-year old was believed to be frustrated by the Spanish club’s recent struggles on the pitch, especially the 8-2 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Ferdinand claims that Frank Lampard’s side are a frontrunner in the race to land Messi’s signing. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are just two of the other major teams across Europe’s top five leagues rumored to be the next destination for the FC Barcelona star attacker.
Just heard Frank Lampard is now in for #messi
Some window this if Lamps pulls this off !!— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) August 25, 2020
The ex-England international tweeted his support for Lampard’s attempts to bring one of the greatest players in football history to Stamford Bridge. It is understood that there are very few teams who will be able to afford the enormous salary package demanded by Messi, with Chelsea FC being one of them, should the club make a move for him.
