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Lionel Messi almost signed for three clubs other than Barcelona
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River Plate, Espanyol and Inter Milan. And the story's insane. And you wouldn't actually believe how close this got
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Back in 2000, a little boy from Rosario was playing in Argentina
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And River Plate decided to try and sign him. Messi at the time was very small. He needed growth hormones to be able to compete at the top level
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But that was $900 a month. And River Plate simply couldn't afford to pay it
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Barcelona stepped in, paid the fee and signed him on a napkin. The rest, as they say, is football history
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Fast forward to 2005, Messi's now 18 years old and Espanyol tried to sign him on loan
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And in fact, Maurizio Pochettino even confirmed this. He said it was very close, but Barcelona were impressed with him in a trophy and decided to keep him at the club
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So Espanyol could have had the go. That's insane. Now 2006 comes around and Lionel Messi is one of the great players in the world
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Inter Milan try and sign him as well. And former Barca president Laporta can recall a €250 million offer
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Lionel Messi's dad even spoke to Inter. Barcelona flat out refused and just kept Lionel Messi at all costs
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Could have been at River Plate, Espanyol and Inter Milan. How different could his career have been
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The big question is, would he still be the GOAT? Could you imagine missing out on the best player of all time
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because you couldn't afford growth hormones? Mind blowing
