Amid Barcelona's recent crisis with Lionel Messi, media outlets have talked about Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City as potential destinations for the Argentine legend. However, it seems they were not the only ones competing for the player. Diego Simeone, the manager of Atlético Madrid, revealed his personal attempts to sign Messi (34 years old) during last summer in an interview with the Spanish sports magazine "Olé."
The Argentine coach stated that he tried to convince his compatriot to join the Spanish capital team, facilitated by Messi's former teammate and close friend Luis Suárez, who surprisingly transferred to Atlético Madrid last year. Simeone told "Olé": "I'll tell you something, when all that happened in Barcelona (Messi's crisis), we contacted Suárez with respect."
He added: "I didn’t call Messi, but I called Suárez and asked him about Messi and how he was thinking, and if there was the slightest hypothetical chance that he would come to Atlético Madrid." Simeone clarified that "it took 3 hours. It was clear that Paris Saint-Germain was obsessed with signing him." Barcelona, deeply in a financial crisis, failed to meet Messi's financial demands as his contract expired months prior, leading to a stalemate that resulted in the team's captain leaving for Paris Saint-Germain.
