‘Nearly transfers’ prove so interesting.
Whether it be Diego Maradona almost signing for Sheffield United or the swathes of players Arsene Wenger claimed he was close to bringing to Arsenal over the years, there’s nothing quite as enjoyable as hearing such tales and dreaming up a parallel universe.
Which is why a video to have emerged from beIN Sports detailing a revelation from Gianluca Di Marzio should whet the appetite during the usually somewhat dry international break.
Speaking to camera, the Italian journalist revealed a certain Lionel Messi was keen on joining Chelsea back in 2004 as he WANTED to play for Jose Mourinho.
Of course, the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ was at the top of his game during those heady days of the early 2000s.
Long before he became the star of meme, after meme, after meme, the Portuguese was on the cutting edge of football management and had just taken the reigns at Stamford Bridge after winning the Champions League with Porto.
Though Mourinho doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to developing young players, surely Messi’s extraordinary talent would have seen him thrust into the starting XI.
After all, here was a freakishly gifted teenager who actually made his first-team debut against Mourinho’s Porto a year prior to his desire to move and was about to sign his first professional deal amid a background of bubbling excitement.
Imagining what Messi would have been like at Chelsea in those days is odd.
While clearly not as talented as the Argentine, Joe Cole was morphed into a hard-working grafter out wide who scored big goals in big games while under Mourinho’s tutelage when the former West Ham prodigy was considered one of the most prodigious talents in England at the time.
Obviously, that’s not to say Messi would have undergone the treatment considering his ludicrous goal threat but how different would the footballing world have been?
Could he have done it on a cold, wet, windy night in Blackburn?
Definitely.