Not many are aware that Lionel Messi had once been linked with Man Utd as a youngster and that he was also the one who had left Sir Alex Ferguson with a major regret. – but as his career draws to a close it looks almost certain he’ll never play in the Premier League.
As Messi’s career draws inevitably towards its conclusion, it looks pretty certain the English football fans will never ever see him featuring for a Premier League side. This is also in view of the various options he still has at his disposal, and assuredly even more after his most recent greatest achievement on the international stage leading his men to wrest the World Cup trophy, whilst also bagging the dong for the Golden Ball as its best player.
Now in the aftermath of his World Cup victory with Argentina, the magical wizard is looking at his probably last contract in European football. Reportedly having alleged to have verbally agreed a new deal with Paris Saint-Germain, hence delaying a potential move to the MLS, Argentina’s world-beating skipper has also kept Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta more than the proverbial arm’s length away despite the latter still huffing and puffing away publicly trumpeting his desire to bring the former Blaugranas talisman back to Camp Nou in the unlikely case that finances allow it. Messi himself however seems to be still choking on a bone of contention with regards to his former club president.
Either way, Messi’s paths for the future appear to be totally tangential to a destiny with England although the link to the Premier League was one which once held some appeal to the superstar.
The summer of 2020 was when Messi’s time at Barcelona looked a tad uncertain, with Messi apparently a lot less guarded about his opinions on other clubs. And, at the time, it was reported by The Athletic that the Argentine was “more charmed” by “historic English clubs such as Manchester United”, as his positive private view of the the Manchester club was made public then.
Although in current times the opportunity to see Messi don United colors at Old Trafford sounds absolutely preposterous at this stage, it was not that incredulous to believe at the very beginning of his career.
Just 20 then, the Argentine super talent was linked with United at a time when a move would have certainly seemed more plausible before he emerged as the world’s greatest player. However, he himself admitted having already “realized his dream” of being at Barcelona, he hence had no interest in a transfer.
Asked by FourFourTwo about a United transfer back in 2007, Messi responded: ”I’m happy in Barcelona. Why wouldn’t I be?
“I’ve realized my dream. It’s the best club in the world with the best players. My family are happy here; they like it.”
While United did miss out on signing Messi, they also experienced first-hand his unearthly abilities on a number of occasions – particularly in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals. On both these epochal occasions, Messi’s magical razzle and dazzle saw La Pulga and his Blaugranas clinically dismantle United to lift European football’s top prize.
In fact it has been alleged that the way both games played out has left legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson cause for deep regret as he still believes to this day he should have deployed Park Ji-Sung to man-mark the Argentinian wizard, as Rio Ferdinand revealed in a BBC documentary last year.
“Ferguson said that he should have put Park Ji-Sung on him,” Ferdinand explained. “If anyone could have done it, then it would have been him. But I have watched so many clips of that game when he moves Park around a lot.
“Maybe Park would have been able to slow him down, and maybe that would have been enough. But would that have stopped a prime Lionel Messi? I very much doubt it. I don’t think one player could do it. I was just on the pitch at the end and thought that we need to get off there. They took our soul, basically. Messi was the main ingredient.”
A decade or so later, possibly the only consolation for United would be that those encounters hopefully contributed to a more wholesome, positive view on the Manchester club from the greatest player of all-time.