London, Mar. 5 : Manchester City is set to make a spectacular 100 million pound summer move for Argentina's Lionel Messi.

City owner Sulaiman Al Fahim, who six weeks ago missed out on Kaka, has personally sanctioned the world-record bid for the Barcelona striker.

Brazilian superstar Kaka turned down a 91 million pound switch to Eastlands to stay at AC Milan.

But Arab billionaire Al Fahim, who is a huge fan of Argentinian football, is determined not to lose out again and has made Messi his No 1 target.

Al Fahim said: "I've never worked with Maradona and I am not sure if he will be a good coach for Argentina.

"But I want to work with Messi soon, because he makes me love Argentina again."

Messi, 21, has been inspirational for Barca this season, scoring 17 La Liga goals in 22 appearances to help them to the top of the table.

The Spanish giants are desperate to keep him. But money is no object for Al Fahim and the City chief is convinced he can use his financial muscle to persuade Messi to leave.

City were ready to offer Kaka 250,000 pounds a week to leave the San Siro and he came agonisingly close to joining before a late change of heart.

The major stumbling block in that deal was that City could not guarantee Champions League action every year. (ANI)