Kieran Tierney has opened up on the nightmare prospect of having to defend against Lionel Messi for two games a season if he makes the switch from Barcelona to Manchester City this summer.
The Argentine has handed in a transfer request to leave the Catalan club after almost two decades at Camp Nou.
Barca’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse in recent years and their 8-2 loss against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals further highlighted their decline.
The club and La Liga both maintain that any teams interested in signing him must pay his £632million release clause.
Should his exit be sanctioned, Manchester City is touted as his most probable destination given the connection with his former boss Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal left-back Tierney came up against Messi while playing for Celtic, but by his own admission, he didn’t fare too well.
‘I kinda played him before, I was marking him but I was nowhere near him, I was miles off it,’ the Scotland international told Sky Sports.
‘It would be the biggest challenge of my career playing against him a couple of times a season hopefully.’
