Arsenal made an offer for the 15-year-old Lionel Messi, writes Guillem Balague

Thursday, October 16, 2014 marks ten years since Lionel Messi made his La Liga debut for Barcelona.

Since that brief foray against Espanyol, the Argentina ace has established himself as arguably the most talented player of his generation.

Along with his four Ballon d’Or awards, record-breaking Messi has landed six La Liga titles, three Champions Leagues and a pair of Club World Cups with Barcelona.

The diminutive but deadly forward has cemented his place among the Camp Nou legends – but it could have been very different.  

Here, in an excerpt from Guillem Balague’s biography of the player ‘Messi’, the Sky Sports pundit explains how Arsenal nearly signed Messi as a 15-year-old, in a treble-swoop which included Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique…

The rest of the article is here: Sky Sports