GOAL

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero has set his sights on signing Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi at some stage in the future.

The Serie A side are dreaming of luring the Argentina international to Genoa as they have the ambition to become a major force in Europe again

The 63-year-old has been making headlines in Italian football ever since taking over Sampdoria in June 2014 and he is determined to turn the Stadio Luigi Ferraris side into a force to be reckoned with once more.

Samp were among Italy's top teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning four Coppe Italia and one Serie A title, while they also won the Cup Winners Cup in 1990, as well as making it to the European Cup final in 1992 - which they lost to Barcelona.

Ferrero dreams of reliving those days and thinks Messi would be the perfect signing to get his project off to a flying start.

"I want to be at the heart of a great Sampdoria again," Ferrero told Sky Sport 24.

"I want to repeat what Paolo Mantovani achieved with Sampdoria.

"The signing of my dreams? I am always aiming high and the dream signing would be Messi.

"I can only say that he likes Sampdoria's colours and that I am here to win things and not to count ants."

Messi, 27, has a contract with Barcelona until June 2018 and has a buy-out clause of €250 million.

Sampdoria currently sit joint sixth in the Serie A table with 35 points from 23 games.