La Liga club president claims he could have signed Messi as a 16-year-old: “No impossible things in football” – Beragampengetahuan

Lionel Messi’s Barcelona story is one for the ages. Scouted in Rosario, and signed as a pre-teen on a contract made on tissue paper, the Argentine went on to define the sport and raise standards to the levels that were never previously seen before.

And while it ended in tears, with him leaving on a Bosman move to join PSG, it was an incredible timeline.

It could have gone a few different ways, though. What if Barcelona were not ready to pay for his growth deficiency treatment? Or what if Arsenal signed him as a teenager, as Arsene Wenger has so often claimed?

Recently, though, Getafe president Angel Torres has revealed that he could have signed Messi as a 16-year-old, as well.

The Spanish businessman has been Getafe’s owner since 2002, and was close to signing Messi from Barcelona in 2003, while his club was still in the second division of Spanish football.

“There is nothing impossible in football. I’ve talked about Messi many times. It was possible for me to have brought him when he was 16 years old. There are difficult but not impossible things in football,” he said, while speaking about possibly signing Oriol Romeu, as relayed by Mundo Deportivo.

Getafe received promotion to the top flight in Spain in 2004, when Messi was already 17 years old. So, if what Angel Torres claims is correct, that would mean the Madrid outfit attempted to sign Leo while still in the second division.

Messi was already one of the highly-coveted prospects in football, and would go on to make his debut for the senior Barcelona side a year later, and instantly become an integral part of the team.

“In Messi’s first or second year [in the first team], we came really close to bringing him to Getafe on loan,” Torres said four years ago. “In the end, [Frank] Rijkaard didn’t agree to it and we were left with just our desire.”