Are the LA Galaxy pursuing Lionel Messi?

It’s a known condition the LA Galaxy are linked to all manner of transfer rumors, owing to their penchant for spending over the years, for picking up star players and for being, well, an MLS team that people in other parts of the world had heard of.

You can probably see where this is headed, but Lionel Messi, yes that one, was linked to the Galaxy this week, with ESPN relaying a report that with Messi outspokenly critical of FC Barcelona recently, the one-club man could be on the move, with Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto trying to recruit the world’s best player.

The report states that Galaxy manager and former Boca Juniors star Guillermo Barros Schelotto reached out to Messi’s father, Jorge, last year to see if there were any possibility of making a move to MLS after they lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Now, Messi’s contract reportedly features an exit clause that allows him to leave the Catalan club at the end of each season, which would leave him free to join the Galaxy — or any other club — this summer.

The report goes on to say a stumbling block is that the Galaxy already have three Designated Players, which, lol, where there’s a will there’s a way when it’s Messi here.

But is there any truth to this report? Sounds like no!

Schelotto was asked point-blank about it on Thursday by reporters and denied approaching Messi or his family to make a deal.

So probably no need to get that custom “Messi 10” Galaxy jersey made just yet.

Obviously, with LA’s track record, signing the likes of Beckham, Zlatan and Chicharito, you can’t definitively rule them out for making the biggest swoop yet down the line. Personally, Messi is a player I expect to either retire at Barça or go back to his boyhood club of Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina to retire, but you never know, it could happen one day.

But if you expect this particular rumor to have legs, sorry, it doesn’t have any, and you probably shouldn’t hold your breath it’s coming soon, either. We’ll see what happens in the future.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!