Former Manchester City assistant coach Mark Bowen has shared the amusing story of how the club once made an “accidental” bid for Lionel Messi.
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Bowen, who worked alongside Mark Hughes as assistant at multiple clubs, was part of the team during a transformative period at City.
Following the club’s takeover by Sheikh Mansour in 2008, City embarked on an aggressive transfer strategy, with major signings such as Vincent Kompany and Robinho.
The club aimed to make a statement by pursuing big names, which led to a series of offers being thrown around, including for the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Franck Ribery, and Robinho.
The Miscommunication Behind the Bid
Bowen recounted that, as deadline day approached, the club’s CEO, Gary Cook, instructed Hughes to make a bold move to announce the club’s new financial power. The strategy involved offering around £30-35 million to clubs across Europe in the hope of securing a marquee signing.
As it turned out, Robinho was the one who accepted the offer, but during this process, a communication error led to a bid for Lionel Messi landing in the inbox of Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta. Bowen revealed that the bid came as a shock, with Barcelona’s response being a swift rejection, telling City to “back away.”
Reactions and Aftermath
The mix-up occurred when a staff member, possibly Cook, reportedly remarked, “This is getting messy,” which likely led to the accidental bid for Messi. Barcelona’s president wasted no time in letting City know that they had overstepped with their offer.
By 2008, Messi was already among the world’s best, having finished third in the Ballon d’Or rankings that year.
The incident has since become a humorous footnote in the history of City’s rise to prominence, illustrating the sometimes chaotic nature of the club’s early days under new ownership. Robinho, for his part, later admitted he thought he was joining Manchester United rather than City, adding another twist to the saga
