‘Messi tempted to join Arsenal’ – agent

‘Messi tempted to join Arsenal’ – agent

Lionel Messi playing for Inter Miami.
© IMAGO

Lionel Messi‘s former agent Fabian Soldini has revealed that game’s best ever player was previously tempted to join Arsenal.

Messi, the record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, is now winding down his career in Florida with the David Beckham-backed Inter Miami, for whom he has seven goals and four assists from eight games this season.

Article continues under the video

Inter reportedly beat Barcelona and a big money offer from Saudi Arabia to sign him on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last summer, and Apple’s MLS viewing figures since his arrival have been off the scale.

READ MORE: Lionel Messi at Inter Miami: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2024

The 36-year-old has been in high demand his whole career, and Arsenal tried to steal a march on the competition before his Barcelona prime, as revealed by Soldini in an interview with Marca.

‘He was tempted’

“He was tempted to go to Arsenal, but he didn’t go,” Soldini recalled of the time when the Gunners signed Cesc Fabregas from La Masia back in 2003.

“I remember the day that Cesc asked to leave. Messi was also asked to go, but [ultimately] he didn’t want to leave.”

Arsenal’s loss was of course Barcelona’s gain, with Messi going on to register 672 goals and 303 assists in 778 games with the Blaugrana – all club records.

READ MORE: Arsenal’s 10 most expensive transfers of all time

He won 10 La Ligas and four Champions Leagues with the club, and was widely regarded as the best player in the world when he left on a free for PSG in 2021.

Despite playing for his third club – and fourth if you count Newell’s Old Boys in his youth, Messi has never cost anybody a transfer fee.

He is now valued at €24.1m by FootballTransfers’ in-house algorithm, but Inter and MLS wouldn’t entertain any bids for him today, with his off-field influence making him worth far more to them than just a transfer fee.




Source From: Football Transfer News Archive including Premier League & La Liga

Source link

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with changes to European Union data protection law, for all members globally. We’ve also updated our Privacy Policy to give you more information about your rights and responsibilities with respect to your privacy and personal information. Please read this to review the updates about which cookies we use and what information we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated privacy policy.
Blogarama - Blog Directory