Zabaleta: The Spaniards once asked me if there was any way to bring Messi

Hupu November 16 News After Messi shined at the 2005 World Youth Championship, the Spaniard tried to take advantage of a legal loophole in Barcelona's lineup to sign the Argentine superstar.

Zabaleta, the Argentinian full-back, one of the best in the world at the time and a Manchester City legend, played for Espanyol for three seasons, leaving an indelible mark and winning the Copa del Rey in 2006. Now, almost two decades after his time at Espanyol, Zabaleta revealed details on PostUnited of a (failed) transfer that could have changed the course of football history. In an interview on the outlet's "ElAfter" program, the former Argentina international spoke about the day Espanyol tried to sign Messi and all the details he was involved in.

"The Spaniards took action. Obviously they came to me because they knew about my relationship with Messi, because I had just finished playing in the World Youth Championship, " Zabaleta began to tell, referring to the 2005 World Youth Championship. All this stems from Barcelona's foreign aid quota problem. "The situation at that time was that all the non-EC player places in the Barcelona first team were full. Of course, a player like Messi deserves the non-EC registration of the first team. After his outstanding performance in that World Youth Championship, he could no longer return to Barcelona's youth team or reserve team to play. He should go directly to the Barcelona first team. I remember that because those places were already occupied, there were some problems within Barcelona. , and Espanyol started to make some moves. "

This is where Zabaleta comes into play as Messi's compatriot: "They came, the management of the club, they asked me: 'Since you have a relationship with him, do you think we can do something to get Messi to come to Espanyol? "

But it was impossible. Zabaleta described it this way: "But Barcelona moved so fast, leaving no room for this to happen. They will not let this happen, lose a player like Messi and let him go to the team with the biggest rival in the same city. Not only the Spaniards, but even the Spanish Any other club, Barcelona knew that if they had the best player, a player of Messi's level, they couldn't lose him. He had to go straight into the first team because with him the team would be better. There was no possibility of Leo leaving Barcelona at that time," Zabaleta concluded.

In addition, Zabaleta also recalled several unforgettable moments of his time with Espanyol, one of which was the successful relegation against Real Sociedad in 2006: "Successful relegation, the great Coro. Do you know how much I love him? That young man saved me. I don't know what I will do after that year." What, because obviously when you suffer relegation it's complicated. "It all happened in his first season at Espanyol and he adapted perfectly to the club thanks to his compatriots: "There were Pochettino, Martin Posé... When you go somewhere and meet people who are already at the club. It will be much easier to adapt when you have a young man who has been with you for many years. "

He also did not forget the final against Sevilla, where Espanyol lost in a penalty shootout: "That was a super cruel moment for Espanyol because we tried everything we could and played really beautiful football. The ball, Ernesto Valverde is the coach, we played really well. Football is a bit cruel, and to win that trophy would have been incredible for all of us and for the history of Espanyol. "

This is not the first time that Zabaleta has expressed his gratitude to Espanyol. The Argentinian was also a guest at Espanyol's 125th anniversary celebrations at the end of October, when he said the club "deserves" to be in European competitions and "hopefully they will get those European spots at the end of the season because it is an important and historic club in Spain with a spectacular stadium and an incredible fan base."

"I stayed for three years and it was quite intense. Because, well, we won the Copa del Rey at the Bernabeu in 2006 against Zaragoza and we lost the final against Sevilla, well, those were really good years and I have great memories. Now Manolo Gonzalez is doing a really good job because he's a homegrown guy and he's got the opportunity to coach the first team. That's the beauty of this club, that sense of belonging.source:tỷ số trực tuyến 7m cn