Lionel Messi told FC Barcelona that he wanted to join Manchester City last summer, as he looked to leave the club in a turbulent off-season.

Messi sensationally quit international football in the wake of Argentina's agonising Copa America final defeat to Chile - their second in 12 months. Messi missed the decisive penalty in the shoot-out and stood down from the national team before, 10 days later, being sentenced for tax fraud.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner told FC Barcelona that week that he wanted to leave and, according to Mundo Deportivo, he even specified that he wanted to head to Man City. Messi was even willing to come out and say in public how angry he was and that he wanted to leave Spain (sound familiar?).

Barca, of course, refused to countenance selling one of the finest players to ever set foot on a football field and, thus, the only way out was for City or the player to stump up his €250m release clause.

City were willing to pay a world-record €150m, but on July 18th it all changed, with Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and vice-president Jordi Mestre flying to the United States to talk to Jorge Messi, the player's father.

Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran Show all 11 1 /11 Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-1.jpg (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on May 08, 2017 shows (L) Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017, and (R) Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi reactimg during the UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg football match Juventus vs Barcelona, on April 11, 2017 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. / AFP PHOTO / Atta KENARE AND Giuseppe CACACE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE,GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-7.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, juggles a ball in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-4.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-9.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-6.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-2.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-5.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-8.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-10.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-3.jpg Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, walks down a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Lionel Messi's lookalike proves a hit in Iran messi-double-11.jpg TOPSHOT - Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture in a street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

Bartomeu and Mestre met Jorge and some of the family in Miami but couldn't make a breakthrough. That only came after a three-hour conversation at Messi's Spanish home, in Castelldefels, but the crucial intervention came - as it had done so often on the field in the previous season - from Luis Suarez.