Spartak Moscow's sporting director shares why Lionel Messi did not move to Arsenal

Spartak Moscow's sporting director, Francis Kahiga, shared why striker Lionel Messi, who played for Barcelona, ​​did not move to Arsenal. Kahiga worked at Arsenal from 1997 to 2020, during which he was in charge of the international scouting department.

He said: "Is it true that you invited Messi to Arsenal? - Yes. We also wanted to sign Gerard Piqué - he came to our training center when we signed Cesc Fabregas and contacted Messi. I spoke directly with Messi's father, but Messi could not move to England because he had paperwork problems - this was even written into a book, authored by Guillem Balague. All three played in the team Barcelona arrived at 16. Imagine - Piqué in the middle and Messi in attack. Their team set the record, and I wanted to take all three to London. We almost completed the deal, but in the end it was a great deal for the club. We took him for free or for 300,000 euros year, we sold him to Barcelona for 50 or 55 million euros, then he was world champion. And Messi was wrong. Years later, I met him at the wedding and said: 'It was a wrong decision, should have moved to Arsenal.' Of course, Messi's career is something unbelievable," Kahiga said in a video on Spartak's YouTube channel.