Chelsea have confirmed that they will not be signing Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
The West Londoners have been linked with the 27-year-old Argentine in recent days, following the apparent bust up that Messi has had with manager Luis Enrique.
But Chelsea assistant manager Steve Holland stated that Messi is not on the list of potential signings.
“It’s not a decision I would make, stated Holland.
“But under Financial Fair Play rules, many players have been sold to balance the books here. That has been the case in the last 12 months.
“When you see the numbers that have been mentioned around the Messi deal I would think it looks impossible under FFP.
“The manager has made it clear in this window that nobody leaves and nobody goes. He said a similar thing at this time last year, but a few things happened that meant we had to be reactive. Manchester United made a huge offer for Juan Mata. And we had an offer for Kevin De Bruyne. Jose was happy to keep them. But sometimes you have to react. But the hope and expectation is that nobody comes or leaves.”
by Ben Reardon
