“Real Madrid were interested in signing Messi when he was young”
The Argentine international’s first agent revealed Real Madrid and Arsenal’s long-standing interest in signing the ‘flea’
It was November 16, 2003, at the Estádio do Dragão, in a friendly between FC Porto and Barcelona when, in the 74th minute, Fernando Navarro gave way to a certain Lionel Messi who, in this way, made his debut for Barcelona . The rest is history and this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between Messi and the Catalan club. However, in 2024, the news emerged that everything could have been different.
Horacio Gaggioli, Lionel Messi ‘s first agent , said in an interview with Saudi media outlet Kooora that the Argentine star could have played in the Premier League or even for Barcelona ‘s biggest rival , Real Madrid .
” Real Madrid were interested in Messi when he was young, 16 or 17,” said Gaggioli, who then added: “but he never wanted to leave Barcelona .”
In addition to the Merengues, another giant of European football was also keeping an eye on the ‘flea’: « Arsenal were also interested in Messi when he was starting out, but the response was the same». Fabio Capello also tried his luck when he was coaching Juventus, but, until 2021, no one took Messi away from Barcelona .
