Man Utd concede: Man City favourites if Messi leaves Barcelona

Manchester United acknowledge that local rivals Manchester City would be the most likely destination for Lionel Messi.

The Argentine ace is believed to be pondering a new mega-deal to stay with Barcelona which is worth £825,000 per week.

The Sun is reporting that even though United could afford a player worth so much, the Old Trafford outfit have conceded defeat that City have an advantage if Messi were ever to leave Camp Nou.

"City would be the favourites if he were to one day leave, but we would obviously love the sign a player of that level," a United source told The Sun.

"We can certainly compete on the cash front and Messi is an Adidas player like Paul Pogba, so we have our pluses.

"But all the same, we would not get involved in any bidding war unless Messi's camp gave an indication that he was willing to come here."

Messi, 29, is in line for a new contract with Barca, as the Catalan giants go about tying down their key players, but a reported dispute has the five-time Ballon d'Or winner stalling on putting pen to paper.