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Lionel Messi 'agreed to join Chelsea in stunning £225m move in 2014' after Jose Mourinho wooed him over FaceTime and club agreed to pay him £50m a season net to leave Barcelona - but the deal collapsed after Deco 'snitched' to star's father and agent

Lionel Messi may have come close to joining Manchester City this summer but it's not the first time the Barcelona talisman has been on the verge of a move to the Premier League.

According to Sky in Italy's Gianluca Di Marzio, the Argentine superstar was on the cusp of becoming a Chelsea player in 2014.

The fee would have been a world-record £225million transfer - Messi's buyout clause at the time - with Messi, Blues owner Roman Abramovich and then-manager Jose Mourinho keen for the deal to go through.