Getafe president Angel Torres says the club came close to signing Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi on loan as well as having a verbal agreement to appoint Pep Guardiola as manager.
Messi was just 17 when he first broke into the Barca first team in 2004, with Torres revealing he wanted the Argentine to gain some valuable senior experience with his Madrid-based side shortly afterwards.
“In Messi’s first or second year [in the first team], we came really close to bringing him to Getafe on loan,” Torres told Marca .
“In the end, [then manager Frank] Rijkaard didn’t agree to it and we were left with just our desire.”
Despite that disappointment Torres again approached Barca in the summer 2008, this time for Guardiola.
Torres had identified the Manchester City boss as a potential successor to Michael Laudrup, who was expected to replace Rijkaard at Camp Nou.