Rumours of Lionel Messi signing for Inter Milan is nothing more than fantasy football, proclaims Antonio Conte

With the summer transfer window slowly approaching, only Jadon Sancho’s future has dominated headlines more than Lionel Messi’s future. The Argentine has only one year left on his current deal at Barcelona but does have a clause in his contract that allows him to leave this summer for free which has sparked the rumours. It has seen Messi linked with moves to Manchester City, PSG, Manchester United, Inter Milan and back to Argentina as well.

But one rumour that keeps popping up is Inter Milan with the Serie A side reportedly Messi’s top destination and reports of the Argentine’s father buying a house in Milan has fuelled the rumours. However, when asked about it, Nerazzurri boss Antonio Conte confirmed that it’s nothing more than fantasy football but only a madman wouldn’t want Messi at the club. The Italian also added that before making any high profile moves the club needs to create a solid base and then “maybe” splurge on a superstar.

"We're talking about fantasy football, situations that at the moment cannot be linked to Inter. For many reasons. I don't think there's a madman in the world who wouldn't want Messi. But that kind of situation really is very, very, very far from Inter, from what we are doing and what we are trying to build. We need to create a solid base, and then maybe...I repeat, this is fantasy football; however, I like the fact that when fantasy football is involved, the team that is linked to it is always Inter,” Conte said in his post match press conference.