Barcelona legend opens up on Arsenal’s pursuit of Lionel Messi | OneFootball

Former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has opened up on how close Arsenal were to signing Lionel Messi.

Appearing on BBC’s Euro Leagues podcast, Pique discussed Arsene Wenger’s pursuit of the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner but said the London club had ‘no chance’ of signing him.

Their interest in Messi began in 2003 when Arsenal completed the signing of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona’s youth academy. The Spaniard made over 300 appearances for Arsenal during his eight-year spell at the club, before returning to Barcelona in 2011. Pique, who Arsenal also tried to sign, claimed Fabregas was not the only prodigy from La Masia that piqued the interest of the Gunners.

Pique said: “The summer before I left to join Manchester United, Arsene came to sign me at that time,” he told the BBC’s Euro Leagues Podcast.

“Arsenal didn’t want to get into a big fight with Barcelona because they already took Cesc at that time.

“So, they kind of were trying to arrange a deal with Barcelona and it took more time than what we wanted to. So Manchester United arrived and said, ‘listen, we want you so let’s take a decision right now’ and I decided to go there.

“And it’s true that later on, I think that Arsene tried also to sign Messi, but he didn’t have a chance. So the good thing about that is all of us went back and played for the Barcelona first team.”

Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, scoring over 800 goals for his club and country and collecting 44 trophies- including four Champions Leagues and a World Cup.