Former Argentina defender Pablo Zabaleta has lifted the lid on how Espanyol attempted to sign his compatriot Lionel Messi from Barcelona. Zabaleta, who is currently the assistant manager of the Albania national team, played for Espanyol between 2005 and 2008. Ad During an interview with Post United’s After, Zabaleta claimed Espanyol explored the possibility of taking advantage of Messi’s uncertain situation at Barcelona following his breakthrough at the U-20 World Cup, noting that the club requested his help due to his relationship with Messi. “Espanyol made a move, and obviously they came looking for me because they knew about my relationship with Leo, who had just played in the Under-20 World Cup,” Zabaleta said. “There was an issue where Barça already had all their non-EU spots filled with the first team, so in a way, Messi couldn’t go back to playing for Barça’s youth team or the B team after that World Cup or what he had done. Ad Trending “Messi couldn’t go back to playing for Barça’s youth team or B team. It was as if Messi was already a player ready to go directly to Barça’s first team. But well, I remember that since the slots were already filled, there was some problem with Barça’s first team, and Espanyol started to make a move. Ad “The club’s directors asked me, since you have a relationship with him, do you think we can do something so that Messi can come and play for Espanyol? But anyway, they tried to see if there was, I don’t know, some way that Espanyol could make it happen. However, Lionel Messi remained at Barcelona, with Zabaleta stating that their cross-town rivals reacted ‘quickly’ and forestalled any potential swoop. Ad “Barça moved so quickly that they didn’t give it an inch, and Barça obviously wasn’t going to let a situation of that magnitude-losing a player like Leo-go to another team their biggest rival in the city, or even, as I said, not even to Espanyol, or any other club in Spain, knowing that if we have the best player, we can’t lose him; he has to come straight to the first team. So, I think there was no way Leo could leave Barça at that time,” he added. Ad The decision to keep Lionel Messi aged well for Barcelona, as he went on to become arguably their greatest ever player. Barcelona could rename Camp Nou after Lionel Messi Reports Barcelona are reportedly considering renaming Camp Nou after Lionel Messi in a move to strengthen the relationship between the player and the club’s current project. Messi recently made a surprise visit to the iconic ground, sparking a wave of comments about a possible return to Barca. Ad According to Marca, information has emerged in the Catalan press indicating that there is a current push for renaming the stadium as ‘Spotify Camp Nou Leo Messi.’ Prior to Marca’s report, club president Joan Laporta had revealed that there are plans to erect a statue of Messi outside the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi left Barca as a free agent in the summer of 2021 due to a financial crisis at the club. Meanwhile, Camp Nou is currently under renovation, as Barca last played at the stadium in May 2023. × Feedback Why did you not like this content? Clickbait / Misleading Factually Incorrect Hateful or Abusive Baseless Opinion Too Many Ads Other Was this article helpful? Thank You for feedback Edited by Ezekiel Olamide.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/news-there-problem-barcelona-s-first-team-pablo-zabaleta-reveals-espanyol-made-move-sign-lionel-messi
“There was a problem in Barcelona’s first team” – Pablo Zabaleta reveals how Espanyol made move to sign Lionel Messi
