Next Madrid president could be tempting Messi

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Barcelona thinks that Real Madrid presidential candidate Florentino Pérez is tempting Barcelona attacker and Argentinian international Lionel Messi (21).

Barcelona board member Xavier Sala Martín would have said in a private conversation that he thinks that Pérez has sounded out Messi.

If the next president of Real Madrid would be able to find a personal agreement with the player, he believes that Barcelona would be forced to negotiate on Messi's buyout clause of 150 million euro°. Barcelona attacker and Spanish international Andrés Iniesta (25) would be the other Barcelona player on the list.

Asked about the statement of Pérez that he didn't exclude signing a Barcelona player (read more here), Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said to journalists that he thinks trying to sign a Barcelona player would be a waste of time: "I thank him for the praising words, but I didn't like the fact that he left the door open in a kind of mysterious way for a possible signing of a Barça player. If he would do it, I would consider that to be a sporting aggression.

Florentino Pérez is a respectable man and he knows about sportsmanship. The relations between the clubs are at this moment agreeable and absolutely respectful and we hope things to stay this way, whoever the next president of Real Madrid will be, Florentino Pérez or somebody else.

I also advise him not to try to sign a player, because he will fail, firstly because the players who are at Barcelona are committed to the club, and therefore any attempt would be in vain. So I would be thankful if he didn't dedicate time to try and destabilise Barcelona. He will not obtain anything and the truth is that it wouldn't be worth the time and the effort."

Read more:
Next Madrid president keeps pushing for Iniesta
Madrid having difficulties to understand Messi
Next Madrid president not excluding Barca signing