I don't care that Man City failed to sign Messi: De Bruyne
Sep 12, 2020
Manchester [UK], September 12 : Manchester City's midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has said that he doesn't care that his club failed to sign Argentine striker Lionel Messi.
Messi had shocked Barcelona by asking the club to let him leave and Manchester City was being viewed as one of the top contenders to sign on the Argentine striker.
But, Messi eventually decided to stay at Barcelona for one more season as he did not want to take the club to court over "release clause" in his contract.
"I really don't care. I really don't. If he would have come it would have helped us because, for me, he has been the best player of all time. But I am never looking at what players may come and what may happen, you know," De Bruyne told The Daily Mail, reported Goal.com.
"You play with the players you have and I think we have a pretty good team in that respect. It would be stupid of me to assume what would happen if a certain player came. It happens in football all the time. People are supposed to come and eventually they don't," he added.
If Messi had come to Manchester City, the club for sure would have paid a surreal amount to get the striker in their ranks. However, De Bruyne opined that the club would have earned back the money spent in no time.
"If you can get Messi to your team you are always going to do it. I can see it from a playing perspective and especially as a club. Business-wise, the amount of sponsors and money it would have attracted would have been huge," De Bruyne said.
"Even if you would have paid him a load of money, in a certain way you would get it all back. So I could understand the decision in that respect," he added.
Liverpool had won the 2019-20 Premier League title while Manchester City finished at the second spot.
Pep Guardiola's side also missed out on the 2019-20 FA Cup as the side lost the semi-final clash against Arsenal.
De Bruyne personally enjoyed success during the last season and as a result, he was named as PFA Player of the Year.
Premier League 2020-21 season will kick-start from September 12 and Manchester City will take on Wolves in their first match on September 21.
