Madrid President Reveals Plans to Sign Messi

Madrid President Reveals Plans to Sign Messi

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has disclosed his biggest ambition yet, stating that he would have loved to bring Lionel Messi to Santiago Bernabeu.

Spanish rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid hardly conduct direct transfers, a situation that worsened after the messy switch of Luis Figo in 2000.

But Perez has admitted that it would have been a dream to bring the magical Argentine to Barca’s bitter rivals, although he admits that such an ambition may remain mere dreams due to the player’s long history at the Catalan club, Goal writes.

“Of course we would have loved to have had Messi at Madrid,” Perez told Onda Cero.

“But he was in the Barca youth team so it could never have happened!”

Messi, 29, has been at Barcelona since the age of 13, winning eight La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and a record five Ballons d’Or, one more than wantaway Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both players are often compared and contrasted as football fans and media debate who is the world’s best footballer.

Interestingly, if Perez’s dream had come true, they may have been team-mates at club level with Messi and Ronaldo both lining out for Los Blancos.

The Argentina captain has 507 goals in 583 competitive appearances for Barca, and is already set to renew his contract at the Camp Nou as he looks to retire at the club.