Manchester United have contacted Jorge, the father of Lionel Messi, over his son's possible transfer to Old Trafford.
Messi on Tuesday informed Barcelona through a burofax that he was set to leave the club.
Messi's decision followed Barcelona's 8-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich who went on to win the Champions League.
Following the heavy defeat, Barca sacked their manager Quique Setien and Eric Abidal after overseeing the club's first trophy-less season in six years.
Manchester City are ahead of Paris Saint Germain, Inter Milan and others in the race to acquire Messi's services.
However, BeIN Sports journalist, Tancredi Palmeri, reports that Manchester United have now entered the running for his signature.
He tweeted: "BOOM! Manchester United have contacted Messi's father."
Reacting to the news, football finance expert, Kieran Maguire told Express Sport that Messi would be interested to move to Old Trafford.
"Manchester United are a big club, he'd certainly be interested," Maguire said.
"Are they in the Champions League? Yes, so there are some positives there.
"But if you take a look at their cautious approach in regards to Sancho it would seem strange to recruit a 33-year-old player when they are being reluctant to spend too much on a 21-year-old player.
"I think Manchester United are being very cautious because of their ownership model.
"The same with Liverpool. It would be quite a complicated deal for either of those clubs to get involved and Spurs aren't really in the running."
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