That is the question that is being asked on our Barcelona fan site as there have been various reports this week that Manchester City are poised to make a monster bid for Andres Iniesta next month.
Iniesta is expected to be recognized as the best player in the world when the FIFA Ballon d’Or is handed out in Zurich on January 10 and the question is will he be a Barca player or a Man City player?
There are a couple of things driving this story. One is that Manchester City are struggling through the fallout of Carlos Tevez handing in a transfer request and need to do something to show their Champions League ambitions. And what better way then to sign the World Player of the Year?
Second, is the debt situation of Barcelona. Barca have debts of about £370million which is why they had to sell a shirt sponsorship last week for the first time.
Barca’s financial problems have caused them to impose limits on new contracts, which is one of the reason’s why Dani Alves has not signed a new deal.
So what would it take? Money is no option to Man City and they might be willing to go as high as £85million for Iniesta. It would be hard for Barca to turn that amount of money down. The question then becomes whether Iniesta after 15 years at Barcelona would be willing to leave?
This would naturally be a blockbuster deal and I cannot see it happening in January. It’s too soon. But if City qualifies for the Champions League next season, then this deal will be more likely to happen in the summer.