Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone has revealed he tried to sign Lionel Messi when he left Barcelona this summer.
As you’ll be aware, Messi brought about an end to his lifelong association with Barcelona this year when his contract came to an end.
For much of the summer, it appeared he and Barcelona would find a way to get him signed to a new deal, with both parties very much wanting it.
It never happened, though; with the deep financial crisis the club currently finds itself in, meaning they had no choice but to go their separate ways.
He eventually ended up at Paris Saint Germain, who moved quickly to secure his signature and offered him the chance to link up with former teammate Neymar.
Before that move happened, the Argentine legend was linked with a number of clubs, and it seems one who made a tentative effort was Atlético Madrid.
“I’ll tell you a detail,” Marca report him saying to Olé.
“When what happened now at Barcelona happened, we called Luis (Suarez), with all due respect.
“I didn’t call Leo, but I did call Luis, and I asked him to find out how he was, what he thought, if there was the slightest possibility, imagining that he could come to Atlético de Madrid.
“But that lasted three hours. Paris Saint-Germain were obviously obsessed with the signing.
“The truth is that we didn’t have the chance to meet because he was always at Barcelona, and we were always at Atlético de Madrid, and neither were we at the national team.”
