Manchester City believes that they are front runners to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi if he decides to leave the Nou Camp.

The claims were made by former Barca president Joan Laporta, who has speculated that ‘certain powers’ at the Nou Camp are planning to get rid of their talisman.

‘There are certain powers who want Messi to no longer be a Barca player,’ Laporta told Catalunya Radio.

The Blues believes there is no chance that Messi would ever leave Barca, but they remain confident that if anything ever did go wrong for him, City would be his next destination.

Messi had a great relationship at Barcelona with current City boss Pep Guardiola and the player is also close friends with Blues chief executive Ferran Soriano and football director Txiki Begiristain.

‘The club has let the player down, the best player in history, the best player in the world. We have a president and a board that didn’t accompany him when he had to testify in court.’

The Citizens are still doubtful that the 29-year-old will ever leave the Catalan outfit but believe that his relationship with manager Pep Guardiola could see him arrive at the Etihad if he did, according to the Manchester Evening News.