Messi Pleads with Barcelona to Sign Manchester City Striker - Report

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero "has offered" himself to Barcelona according to reports in one of Catalonia's most popular newspapers.

El 9 Sportiu claims the Argentine "is crazy about playing for Barcelona" and would jump at the chance to swap the Etihad Stadium for the Nou Camp.

Aguero is a close friend of Lionel Messi, and El 9 Sportiu claims Barca's star player has personally pleaded with his club to sign his compatriot. Senior executives even reassured Messi last summer that Aguero was their back-up option, should they fail to sign Neymar.

The newspaper says that Barcelona representatives had around seven meetings with Aguero's agents over the summer to discuss the player's move back to La Liga, but negotiations stopped when Barca signed Neymar.

However, the departure of David Villa to Atletico Madrid has left the Catalan giants short of a striker, a problem which has been accentuated by Messi's recent injury - and could lead to a bid for Aguero in the near future.

Aguero, who move from Atletico to City three seasons ago, is currently enjoying his best spell since arriving in the Premier League. He is the joint-top scorer in England's domestic tournament, with eight goals, and received the Premier League's player of the month award in October.

However, according to Spanish sources he is not completely happy in England. He misses Madrid and the Spanish life, which is closely linked to Argentina in both language and culture, and would be keen to go back to Spain and played with Messi at Barcelona.

The two friends have already won big trophies with their country, including the Under 20 World Cup in 2005 and the Gold Medal in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Apparently, the biggest problem for Barcelona would be City's refusal to sell Aguero for anything less than £50m, and the interest which has also been shown in the player by Real Madrid.