Times chief football writer Henry Winter: "Lionel Messi is not being badly paid by Barcelona. Lifestyle wise Barcelona is quite nice.

"He is also an intelligent individual who looks at his career and thinks if he comes to the Premier League with no winter break, with the Capital One Cup, which he probably won't play him in, there is the FA Cup as well...he will be exhausted by the time the major honours are contested.

"If he is going to be rated among the greatest players of all time, and you look at Pele and Diego Maradona being in the top two in terms of the World Cup, Messi has still got to deliver a World Cup. Maybe it is all about the money but I just think with Messi it is about the career and his standing in history."