Lionel Messi’s former agent, Horacio Gaggioli, revealed that Real Madrid tried to sign the flea, but the Argentine insisted on staying with Barcelona.
Gaggioli said in an interview with Football Co, “Messi received more than one offer to leave Barcelona during his academy period. Real Madrid tried to sign him when he was 16 years old, and there was also an offer from Arsenal.”
He continued, “But he never wanted to leave Barcelona and stayed there and made history with the club.”
Messi joined the Barcelona academy in 2000, and continued with the Blaugrana until he left in 2021 at the end of his contract in a dramatic manner that led to disagreements between him and the management of Joan Laporta until now.
During his time with Barcelona, Messi achieved many individual and collective achievements, then played for two years with Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Inter Miami in the summer of 2023.
