How Messi almost became a Real Madrid player

Lionel Messi could have started his football career with Barcelona’s fierce rivals, Real Madrid, it has been revealed.


The agent that took him to the Camp Nou when he was 13, Horacio Gaggioli, says Messi would have been a Madrid player if he had moved to the Spanish capital instead.

“Due to life circumstances, I went to live in Barcelona and I brought him to Barca for a trial. But I was about to live in Madrid,” Gaggioli told Globoesporte.

“If that had happened, I would have taken him to Madrid for a trial. That’s life, those are the details.

“Today, Messi could have been a Real Madrid player, of course. The family wanted to come to Spain, to the city where I was to have some support.”

Messi has gone on to win five Ballon d’Or, eight La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns among other trophies with the Catalan giants.