Lionel Messi urged to join Manchester City this summer by former Argentina team-mate Pablo Zabaleta because Pep Guardiola can offer the Barcelona star the 'perfect conditions'

• Pablo Zabaleta believes Manchester City would be 'perfect' for Lionel Messi
• Zabaleta claims Pep Guardiola can offer him the new challenge he is looking for
• He also insists that Messi must 'experience the Premier League' at some point
• However, he recognises the difficulty of leaving Barcelona after so many years 

Pablo Zabaleta claims Manchester City would be 'perfect' for Lionel Messi if he decides to leave Barcelona.

Messi is out of contract in the summer and is likely to leave the Catalan giants with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain potential landing spots. 

Zabaleta - who played alongside Messi for Argentina – believes that Pep Guardiola can offer him the new challenge he is longing for at City and insists that Messi must 'experience the Premier League' at some point during his career. 

Zabaleta does, however, recognise the difficulty of leaving Barcelona after so many years but insists Messi's relationship with City chiefs Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano will help him settle into life at the club quickly. 

The ex-City defender told the Mirror: 'If Lionel Messi ­decides to leave Barcelona and he wants to play in the best league then he has to experience the Premier League for himself. It is something that will ­interest him – because every player I know always asks me what the Premier League is like.

'Leo has been in La Liga for so many years and I think it would be a huge ­attraction for him to experience English football.

'And Manchester City offer the ­perfect conditions.

'He knows Pep very well, he knows [sporting director] Txiki Begiristain and [chief executive] Ferran Soriano – and also Kun Aguero.

'It would be a big ­decision if Leo leaves ­Barcelona. But if that's what he wants then it would be a good thing for him to go to a club that has people already there who can help him to settle.

'When you have been at one club for so long, moving ­somewhere new can be very strange.

'I am sure clubs like ­Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus would also be ­interested in signing him, but it is my opinion that City would be the best place to go after Barcelona.'