With Arsenal having famously snapped up Cesc Fabregas from FC Barcelona as a teenager, former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has now revealed how the club also made advances for Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi.
Wenger was speaking on a beIN SPORTS broadcast when he revealed that Arsenal approached Barcelona in an attempt to sign the famous trio during the early stages of their respective careers.
The Gunners were ultimately successful in the pursuit of Fabregas, who later went on to captain the north London club before returning to Spain, but could not convince the Catalan giants to part ways with Messi and Pique.
"We tried, (but) we were not near to signing Messi," Wenger said.
"But we tried to sign Pique, Fabregas and Messi, of course, we already tried but he (Messi) was already too big at the time.
"Don't forget, in 2006 when we played the (UEFA) Champions League final against Barcelona, Messi couldn't play because he was injured... so that's 13 years ago and he was already a regular player in the first team."
Wenger has previously admitted that he had also missed out on signing Messi's long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, and he opened up about what it could have been like having both superstars in the same team.
"That's real fantasy football," Wenger added.
"I would have loved to (manage them both). I had big personalities in my life, very big personalities. If you can give them what they want, they are happy."
