Real Madrid president reveals why he didn’t sign Messi

Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, has revealed he would have tried to sign Lionel Messi as one of his Galacticos, if the Argentine was a star in the early 2000s.

In his first stint at the helm of the La Liga giants, Perez helped Madrid sign the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo and Luis Figo.

The 70-year-old, who first took over as president in 2000, said Messi who arrived at Barcelona in 2001, may have been one of those signings, if he had been at his current level then.

“If there had been a Messi in my first stage [as president], I would have gone after him,” Perez told Cadena SER.

“He is a type of player like Zidane.

“In my first stage, possibly. He is now a Barca player.

“He has been there since he was a kid. It would be very difficult.”