The Glasgow Rangers paid a lot to Mikel Arteta and Ronald DeBoer, not strangers signing Barcelona players in the early 2000s.
However, the Ibrox people almost brought Lionel Messi from the Catalan giants before breaking into pictures of the first team at Know Camp.
The Argentine icon is correctly recognized as one of the best footballers to play the game, and has not looked back since his debut in 2004 at the age of 17 at Senior Barcelona.
Lionel Messi’s main honors | The year I won |
|---|---|
Ballon d’Or | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023 |
World Cup | 2022 |
American Cup | 2021, 2024 |
Champions League | 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015 |
league | 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019 |
League 1 | 2022, 2023 |
UEFA Super Cup | 2009, 2011, 2015 |
Club World Cup | 2010, 2012, 2016 |
Copa del Rey | 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 |
Spanish Super Cup | 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018 |
Supporters Shield | 2024 |
MLS League Cup | 2023 |
Olympic gold medal | 2008 |
French Super Cup | 2022 |
Messi has won everything there is to win in the game, including eight Barondoor Awards, and he ultimately claimed the glory of the World Cup with his country in 2022.
But if the people of Glasgow gave way, things could have been very different to the magician.
How Ranger nearly signed Messi from Barcelona
According to a report from the goal, the Rangers actually inquired to sign Messi on loan from Barcelona before their senior debut. Unfortunately, these efforts were turned down by the people of Know Camp, but it was Alex McCleesh’s son John who found Messi.
Talking about Graham Hunter’s The Big Interview Podcast in 2017, McLeish detailed how his son’s love for his soccer manager warned Messi in 2003.
“My son John was in the Championship Manager. He was constantly giving me a name in South America. They came out of the sky and said, ‘Lionel Messi would be the best player in the world.’
“He was 13 or 14 at the time. You dismissed that, but the rangers were downsizing and we were looking for some quality mid-season.
“Barry Ferguson was on Blackburn and lost the man who stole the ball in a stadium anywhere in the world, and again he needed that kind of player.
“Yang Woaters called Henk Ten Kate, former assistant to Dutch International Frank Rickard.
“Yang called him and said, ‘Messi?’ They told me there was no chance. ”
John’s prediction that Messi will be the greatest in the world is accurate and shows the power that a football manager can have in real life.