Manchester City Transfer News: Latest Lionel Messi and Rumours on Wilfried Bony

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has played down reports he wants to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi. Guardiola worked with Messi at Barca and has recently been linked with making an offer worth £200 million for the decorated forward.

However, Guardiola insists Messi will end his career at the Camp Nou, something even City's manager wants to see, according to Goal's Sam Lee: "I've said this more than once. Messi is going to end his career at Barcelona. And that's what I profoundly wish, that he ends his career in Barcelona."

If Guardiola's right, City won't get the chance to sign Messi. Yet officials at the Manchester club are said to believe they can acquire the prolific No. 10, per Lee: "It has been reported that Messi is open to the idea of leaving Barca when his contract expires in 2018, and it is an open secret that City believe they are at the front of the queue to sign him should the opportunity ever arise."

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Rumours of a City move for Messi in the near future have been growing in recent weeks. In fact, Simon Mullock of the Sunday Mirror reported the Citizens have been preparing a £200 million offer as part of a deal that would pay Messi as much as £500,000 per week.

It's something Barcelona manager Luis Enrique bluntly denied any knowledge of prior to his side's recent UEFA Champions League game against Celtic, per the Guardian's Ewan Murray: “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

It sounds odd to hear any manager shun the idea of signing Messi, especially if a deal is possible. After all, Messi is arguably the best player on the planet, a virtual guarantee of major trophies thanks to the plethora of goals and assists he produces each season.

However, it's easy to believe Guardiola may be keen to prove he can win and win big without the benefits of Messi's incredible talents. Those qualities were chiefly responsible for Guardiola's success at Barca, success that included winning the UEFA Champions League twice.

It's also not as if City don't possess a few star attractions of their own. Striker Sergio Aguero remains lethal in front of goal, while roving creator Kevin De Bruyne is the player Guardiola is building around in Manchester.

Guardiola crafted Barca around Messi and inherited an awesome team at Bayern Munich. Now he's trying to build City into a similarly powerful club.

And it appears he wants to do it without those who have helped him in the past.

Wilfried Bony Could Leave in January

One player Guardiola doesn't seem to need is Ivory Coast international Wilfried Bony. The striker is on loan at Stoke City and could leave City permanently during the January transfer window.

There's a clause in the former Swansea City man's contract that would let him join one particular league in the winter, according to Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News: "A clause in the loan deal reportedly allows Chinese Super League teams to buy the striker outright when their transfer window opens in the new year."

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However, Bajkowski also noted how Stoke manager Mark Hughes doesn't believe the powerhouse centre-forward will want to move on: "A lot of things have come to the fore to make that happen, not least that Wilf needs to want to go himself. I don't think he will want to."

Hughes believes Bony still views his future as being in the Premier League. Yet there's no obvious role for the attacker with his parent club.

The 27-year-old is terrific in the air and underrated on the deck. Bony boasts deceptive pace and is an intelligent link player, one able to release attacking midfielders and supporting forwards with deft touches and clever flicks.

Still, Bony's qualities haven't been welcomed by Guardiola. The striker's brawn just doesn't fit with the Spaniard's adherence to intricate, possession-based football.

Bony hasn't been a major success at Stoke. He's scored just two Premier League goals in nine appearances for the Potters, per WhoScored.com.

However, he doesn't appear to have a future in Manchester, so if a lucrative offer comes from overseas, he'd surely have to at least consider it.

Guardiola has been shaping City in his own image. It's no surprise those plans don't include Bony. Yet it is a shock the Catalan seemingly doesn't want to involve Messi.