It’s Anzhi, who wanted to cash in for Messi

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Published time: December 28, 2012 11:04
Edited time: December 28, 2012 15:04

The Spanish media have discovered the name of the Russian club, who offered Barcelona an unbelievable €250 million for the transfer of world’s top footballer, Lionel Messi. Of course, it was Anzhi Makhachkala.

­On Thursday, El Mundo Deportivo reported that an unnamed Russian club tried to lure Messi away from Barcelona when he was negotiating a new deal with the Catalan side.  

If the Argentine accepted the record salary €30 million per year, Barca would have to let him go due to the huge sum offered for the transfer.

Messi prolonged his deal with the Catalans until 2018 in the end, but, according to the paper, Anzhi’s owner, Suleyman Kerimov, says the proposal is still in place.  

The 25-year-old attacker gave up the idea of moving to Russia’s Republic of Dagestan because of the Makhachkala side’s vague prospects of participation in major international competitions as well as weather and the language barrier.