Pochettino recalls a time Messi almost left Barcelona

The PSG manager dropped a surprising transfer revelation on Messi amid rumors linking the Barcelona star to France.

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he almost worked with a young Lionel Messi in a surprise loan deal to Barcelona’s local rivals Espanyol.

The Argentine was referring to the summer of 2004 when he had just joined Espanyol as a player. A 17-year-old Messi had already made his first-team debut for Barcelona by that point, but he wasn’t an established regular yet.

But a strong performance from the future six-time Ballon d’Or winner in the annual pre-season Joan Gamper Trophy convinced Barcelona to pull the plug on a potential exit.

According to PSG's Leonardo, the player is on the clubs list!

“Great players like Messi will always be on PSG's list."

It isn't the first time a move has been rumoured, Neymar has stated his desire to play with Messi again too! 👀

Could it happen? 🤔#LLL
🧡🇪🇸⚽ pic.twitter.com/nvtCjGyHRh

— La Liga Lowdown 🧡🇪🇸⚽️ (@LaLigaLowdown) January 18, 2021

This comes amid rumors linking Messi with a move to Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain side. The club board has made its interest no secret while sporting director Leonardo recently left the door open for a summer move.

“Messi to PSG? No comment,” Pochettino told El Larguero in response to the transfer rumors.

The PSG manager then remarked on how close he came to working with a teenage Messi in 2004 and their mutual love for boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys from their homeland.

“When I was at Espanyol or Southampton, my dream was to have the best players at the club and Messi came close to being loaned out to Espanyol,” continued Pochettino.

“The deal was well advanced, but he delivered a great display at the pre-season Trofeo Gamper and that was the end of that.

“We’ve met over the years in places such as London or in Italy. We both share the love for Newell’s, as we both came through their academy, and that is our common bond.”