Planet Football revisited Mauricio Pochettino's account that Lionel Messi was once close to joining Espanyol. Messi made his Barcelona debut on 16 October 2004, in the closing minutes of the Catalan derby against Espanyol, replacing Deco.
Barcelona debut against Espanyol
Messi made the first of his 778 appearances for Barcelona on 16 October 2004. He was introduced late in the derby against Espanyol and came on in place of Deco.
Pochettino's account of the move
Pochettino, now the USMNT coach, told reporters ahead of facing Messi's Barcelona when he was in charge of Tottenham in 2018: "I remember that summer, he was so close to moving to Espanyol. If he did, maybe he could have been the biggest star in Espanyol. We should be the Barcelona! He would have been my team-mate and maybe I would still be in Espanyol managing him."
He also said: "I’d started to hear about Messi when I was an Espanyol player – this small guy playing in the Barcelona academy, who had arrived from Argentina when he was 13. And then I heard he was very close to signing for Espanyol. But because he was so fantastic in the Joan Gamper against Juventus and Fabio Capello praised him afterwards in the press conference, Barcelona changed their minds. They kept Messi at Barcelona."
Capello's praise and loan request
Capello said at the time: "I’ve never seen a player with so much quality at that age and with such personality, wearing such an important shirt. He can do what he likes with the ball. I am pleased that a boy so young does something so beautiful for football."
Years later, Capello recalled: "It’s completely true that I asked Rijkaard if he would loan me Messi for Juventus. When the play had stopped for a minute I went over to Rijkaard and said: ‘You can’t play him because you’ve got three foreigners already. Why don’t you let me have him for a year?'"
Tottenham meeting and PSG link-up
Pochettino spoke about Messi before Tottenham faced Barcelona in 2018. Tottenham lost 4-2 at Wembley, and Messi scored twice in the match.
Pochettino said: "I am not going to try to find a solution against Messi; I think that’s impossible. It’s only to enjoy it. More than worrying you, it needs to excite you."
He also said: "I played against Maradona and Ronaldo and, for your ego, it’s a thing that you are going to tell your kids and grandkids. So enjoy it, stay close and try to play in the opposite half; push Leo to play far from your goal. Because if not, it’s terrible."
Pochettino eventually signed Messi for PSG in 2021. He said at the time: "I didn’t think it was possible, and when an opportunity appears and everything goes so fast, you can’t immediately process it. However, there’s that connection: we both are Argentinian, we both support Newell’s, we both come from Rosario. I have also admired him for a long time when facing him as an opponent, so having him now training with us is really nice."