This European club almost had Messi and Guardiola, you'll never guess which one

Many soccer fans and specialists consider that Pep Guardiola's Barcelona between 2008 and 2012 were the best team of all time. There was not only the Spanish coach, one of the most prestigious in the world even today, but also a group of top players who were there in their prime, such as Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique.

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But undoubtedly the best of them all was Lionel Messi. The Argentine forward had made his professional debut a few years earlier and by that time was already established as one of the undisputed stars of the team, breaking records for goals and assists year after year. The coach was very important for that, who upon his arrival at the club decided to dispense with Ronaldinho to make Leo his number 10.

However, things could have been very different. Ángel Torres revealed in an interview with El Partidazo de COPE that in 2008 Getafe were very close to signing Guardiola and that, along with him, they also intended to bring in Lionel. "We were on the verge of signing Messi. He was very close," was his unexpected revelation.

The president of Los Azulones explained what happened at the time: "Txiki (Begiristain, sporting director of Los Blaugranas at the time) told me that they were thinking of Laudrup to coach Barça and I said that I would talk to Guardiola. We met one morning in the VIP lounge at the airport, but everything was rushed, Rijkaard was sacked and instead of Laudrup, Guardiola was chosen. He was willing to come to Getafe. I also asked Laporta for Messi. I was with Laporta and Zubizarreta and they said that Rijkaard was going to give him minutes; but we were on the verge".

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He admires Leo

Torres then spoke specifically about the Argentine forward and said: "I have at least 10 Messi jerseys. He used to send me one every year because he knew he was my idol. I had a very good relationship with him. When I went to Camp Nou he would give it to me in my hand".