Manchester City have drawn up a 10-year plan, to maximize the benefit of landing Lionel Messi from Barcelona.
Messi’s attempt to leave this summer was blocked, after he failed to argue that a release clause in his Nou Camp contract had not expired.
City remain interested in signing the 33-year-old next year and Sportsmail has learned of plans to discuss a decade-long association with City Football Group (CFG).
That would start with a multi-year contract to play for Pep Guardiola, who committed his next two seasons to City last week.
Yet club officials, who believe the influx of fresh commercial revenues would go a long way to financing a mega-money deal, hope a prospective relationship would extend far further.
The option of Messi starring for another CFG team has been floated, with New York City in the United States suggested as an obvious possible destination.
But the idea of the 33-year-old sticking with the group represents significant intrigue and raises the prospect of Messi finishing his career in other far-flung parts of the globe.