Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he came close to signing Lionel Messi as part of an attempted triple swoop which would have landed Gerrard Pique and Cesc Fabregas at the North London club.
Arsenal had moved to sign the trio while they were together at Barcelona’s academy. Pique, who later played for Manchester United before returning to the Camp Nou, travelled to see Arsenal’s training facilities, while Messi family even had direct talks with the club.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague had earlier written that lack of a flat for Messi’s family and the difficulty in obtaining a work permit had scuppered the nearly move.
In the end, only Fabregas, who Wenger opted against re-signing from the Catalans last summer, made the switch. Messi has grown to become one of the greatest players in football history, with four Fifa Ballon d’Or accolades in his kitty.
Lionel Messi Has Scored 375 Career Goals in 468 Games for Barcelona. Image: Getty.
Wenger concurred with reporters on Friday morning he was close to signing the Argentina skipper at the age of 15, but denied that the refusal of a family flat had impeded negotiations.
“I refused nothing,” said Wenger. “I think, in the end, he was not so keen to move, because it was at a period where Fabregas came and Fabregas and Messi played together in the same team.
“We wanted to take Fabregas, Messi and Pique. It worked only for Fabregas. It was not completely down to [buying Messi] a flat in the end. It was down to the fact that in the end Messi was comfortable at Barcelona.”
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