Former Manchester City chief Garry Cook admits they made an 'accidental' bid for Barcelona star Lionel Messi in the past. Cook says the move for the Argentine all came from a dodgy phone line!

"An executive made a comment like, 'it's all getting messy'," former chief executive Cook recalls in 'The Manchester City Years' as club officials in Manchester, London and Abu Dhabi attempted to do business via telephone.

"Via the phone lines and the other communication lines, this somehow translated into 'get Messi'. An offer was made for Lionel Messi of about £30m. Needless to say, it was rejected."