SM
Man Utd vs. PAOK: 20 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Arsene Wenger: 'Arsenal once held talks over signing Barcelona's Lionel Messi'

:Headline: Arsene Wenger: 'Arsenal once held talks over signing Barcelona's Lionel Messi': ID:370878: from db_amp
Former manager Arsene Wenger says that Arsenal attempted to sign Lionel Messi when the Barcelona forward was just 16 years of age.

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he wanted to sign Lionel Messi when the Barcelona forward was just 16 years old.

Messi has since gone on to spend his entire professional career at Camp Nou, enjoying a legendary stint with the Catalan giants which has produced 603 goals from 687 appearances in all competitions.

Wenger has said that he attempted to give the Argentine a different path, however, only to be bluntly rebuffed by the La Liga giants.

The Frenchman told beIN Sports: "We were in discussions with Messi when we bought [Cesc] Fabregas, because Messi played with him.

"You can realise sometimes what fantastic youth teams you had before when you're a club like Barcelona. In the same team, Messi, [Gerard] Pique and Fabregas.

"Pique and Fabregas came to England, Messi stayed in Spain. We were interested in him, but he was untouchable at the time."

Barcelona are allegedly attempting to tie down Messi to a contract which would last for the rest of his career.

amp_article__370878 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-09-12 16:51:51:
html db last update - 2019-09-12 16:51:51 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Arsene Wenger

Click here for more stories about Arsenal

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .