messi on the move to man utd

A deal for Messi would smash the £85.3m world record transfer that Real Madrid paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale.

Messi's current deal at the Nou Camp is set to expire in 2018 and it has emerged that he will require certain assurances if he is to remain at Barcelona, where he has scored an astonishing 453 goals in 531 games.

United have consistently set their sights on the world's biggest names under the stewardship of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and have made attempts to resign Cristiano Ronaldo in recent times, while they have also pursued Bale and Neymar in the last year.