Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero said there is "no doubt" his club could sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
Messi, who is a four-time World Player of the Year and Barcelona's 424-goal record scorer, has long-been linked with the 2014 Premier League champions.
City's chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain know Messi from their time at the Camp Nou while they are the favourites to hire former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola after he leaves Bayern Munich, while the forward gets on well with City top scorer Sergio Aguero.
And goalkeeper Caballero admits he has thought about linking up with his fellow Argentine at the Etihad Stadium.
"That subject is talked about a lot and it's inevitable not to think or speak about it," Caballero told Goal.
"And then when you think that Kun [Aguero] is at the club and he's such a good friend of Messi...
"But until he's signed or not it's nothing more than a rumour. But yes, I understand that it's possible, because this club has massive economic power. The expensive players that the club has at the moment shows that it can deal with high prices.
"Because of that it seems that they can try to sign Messi if he decides to leave Barcelona. No doubt that City can get Messi, but everything depends on what Leo wants to do."
City already have a star-studded lineup but Caballero is excited at the prospect of adding Messi to it.
"I'm already grateful to the club I'm playing for, but imagine that," he said. "It wouldn't just be another star in a team full of stars, it would be the best in the world in your team.
"Having the chance to enjoy that in the national team and imagining to be able to have him in my team, it would be the best in the world."
Meanwhile, Inter Milan president Erick Thohir says he would like to bring Messi to the Nerazzurri, if and when he decides to leave Barcelona.
The Serie A club's finances would not extend far enough for them to be able to buy the Argentine, who is expected to win the Ballon d'Or for a record fifth time next month, but the 28-year-old would be more than welcome to conclude his career at Inter when his Barcelona days do come to an end, according to the Indonesian businessman.
"Why not?" he said on inter.it. "When he's out of contract at Barcelona that could be a great decision. He would be a star player for us and there would also be an opportunity to involve him further in the club."
Thohir's dream may not be as unrealistic as it may sound either. Former Inter midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron revealed to Tuttosport on Wednesday that Messi had once confided in him that Inter was a club he would like to play for.
Messi's contract with the Blaugrana still has two-and-a-half years left to run on it and he would not necessarily fill the bill for the kind of player Thohir is looking for when he is the other side of 30, however.
"Right now we are building a strong, young team under Roberto Mancini -- a team that is ready to challenge the best in Europe," Thohir added.
ESPN FC's Italy correspondent contributed to this report.
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Thursday, December 24, 2015
Messi to Manchester city possible: Caballero
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