Pirelli Boss Wants Inter Milan Owners to Sign Barcelona's Lionel Messi

Marco Tronchetti Provera, the chief executive of Inter Milan sponsors Pirelli, wants to see the club make a move for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. 

Speaking to Tuttosport (h/t Jack Rathborn of the Daily Mirror), Provera said the Milan giants want to make a major summer acquisition, with their owners Suning perhaps able to make a statement in the window.

"I hope that Suning, once financial fair play will allow it, can make a huge signing," he said. "Messi? How can you say no to Messi?"

The links come in the same summer that Juventus pulled off a surprise coup in the transfer window, bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Serie A from Real Madrid.

The quotes from Provera were enough to make the front page of Tuttosport, per journalist Arjun Pradeep:

While Ronaldo's switch to Juventus came as a surprise to many, Messi leaving Barcelona for the San Siro would be an even bigger shock.

Unlike Ronaldo, Messi has spent his entire senior career with one club and has come to define one of the greatest eras in Blaugrana history. The 31-year-old is entwined with Barcelona's traditions and remains a crucial performer for the team.

In his time at Barcelona the Argentina international has won an incredible nine La Liga titles and the UEFA Champions League four times. The 2017-18 campaign was arguably one of his best too, as Messi was the driving force behind Barcelona dominating La Liga once again; he scored 34 goals in the competition and created 12 more for team-mates.

This graphic sums up just how incredible he has been for the team down the years:

Inter would need to pay a remarkable sum of money to prise him away as a result, making this transfer seemingly almost impossible to pull off.

Per Football Italia, Inter remain under investigation in line with UEFA's FFP regulations. As reported by BBC Sport, the new contract Messi signed in November contains a release clause of €700 million (£624 million).

While the Nerazzurri are back in the Champions League once again this season, they have a long way to go before they are challenging for major honours, especially given how strong Juventus have been in Serie A lately; the Bianconeri have won the last seven in a row.