Arsenal almost signed Lionel Messi, says Arsene Wenger

In a recent interview, former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger stated that he had initiated talks with Lionel Messi and asked him to join the Gunners. It was in 2003 when a Wenger-led Arsenal just bought Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona's famous La Masia academy and he wanted to scoop up Messi too.

It was a natural choice, given that both Fabregas and Messi played together since childhood and understood each other well. According to Metro, Wenger stated that it was a great youth team that Barcelona was developing back in those days, with players like Messi, Fabregas and Gerard Pique playing for the same side.

For a player of Messi's caliber, it is obvious that many teams will be keen to sign him. However, the Argentine forward is very happy to stay with FC Barcelona, where he had been playing since 2004. Even before that, he was an integral part of the Barca youth academy where he joined at 13 years of age.

The former Arsenal manager continued saying that later Fabregas joined Arsenal and Pique started playing for Manchester United. However, he stressed on the fact that Messi was not interested to move out of Spain.

Wenger also mentioned that Arsenal had an opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo as well. However, the deal wasn't successful. When asked whether he regrets such a missed opportunity, Wenger confirms that life is sometimes filled with regrets. However, he wants to move on, since these are unachieved businesses.

Wenger was also asked about his perspective on selecting the better player between the Argentine and Portuguese maestros. In reply, the three-time Premier League winning coach said that both Messi and Ronaldo are spectacular and there aren't many footballers in the modern world that can match their talent and expertise.

He also claimed that Messi is a much more creative and artistic player than his Juventus counterpart, while the Portuguese striker is more of an athletic avatar. Wenger concluded that Messi's play tempts him more than Ronaldo's.