When Atletico Madrid spent three hours trying to sign Lionel Messi
Stefan Bienkowski
- 12 Oct 2021 21:34 BST
- 5 min read
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has revealed that the club spent three hours trying to sign Lionel Messi before he eventually agreed to join Paris Saint-Germain.
The Argentina star was forced to leave the Catalan giants in the summer, when La Liga rules banned the Spanish giants from offering Messi a new deal after his previous one had expired.
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Messi eventually made a move to PSG in what many consider to be one of the most remarkable free transfers in the history of the sport.
However, despite rumours of Messi moving to Manchester City or other teams around Europe, Simeone has revealed that Atletico did make enquiries about the generational talent making the move to Madrid.
“I didn’t call Leo [Messi], but I did call Luis [Suarez], to ask him how Messi was doing, whether he fancied it and whether there was the slightest chance of him coming to Atletico,” Simeone said to Ole.
"It was something that lasted three hours, because PSG already had their hearts set on signing him.
“So the chance to work with Messi has never come up. He was always at Barca [before joining PSG], I’ve been at Atletico and we didn’t coincide as players in the Argentina national team."
PSG were surprised by Messi signing
While Simeone believes Messi was set on a move to PSG, the Parisian club have since suggested that they didn’t expect the Argentina forward to join them in the summer.
"Messi was convinced to stay at Barca,” revealed the club’s sporting director Leonardo earlier in the month.
“We opened official talks once Barca announced that Messi would be leaving and it was great because it was a surprise for everyone.
“Messi with Mbappe and Neymar is something great. I love it!"
