Barcelona were fortunate to have Lionel Messi at the club for as long as they did, with the Argentine going on to define an era for the Catalan club.
However, his loyalty to Barça was not for a lack of offers, with some of Europe’s richest clubs trying to tempt him away through the course of his career.
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Former Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has now revealed just how extraordinary one attempt to lure the Argentine away from the Camp Nou became.
Messi did not even open the letter
As quoted by SPORT, Moratti claims he made an astonishing €500 million offer for Messi in 2012.
The Inter president was prepared to push financial boundaries, yet Messi apparently had so little interest in leaving Barça that he never even examined the proposal.
“I did something crazy in 2012,” Moratti recalled.
“I made Messi an offer of €500 million. In that year, that figure was crazy.”
Inter Milan wanted to sign Lionel Messi. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
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Moratti said he sent his vice-president to Barcelona to negotiate, but the attempt went nowhere.
“Messi didn’t even open the letter or get to know the offer,” he said.
“He rejected it without knowing the details and considered himself a player who would not be sold to any team throughout his career.”
Moratti eventually managed to speak directly with Messi, but the answer remained the same.
“I appreciate your interest in me, but I want to retire at Barcelona,” Messi told him.
A Barcelona ending that never happened
Moratti admitted he understood Messi’s attachment to Barça but hoped such an extraordinary financial package might change the player’s thinking.
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“I knew what the situation was, but I tried perhaps to tempt him with money, and it didn’t work,” the former Inter president explained.
Messi was already one of football’s biggest stars in 2012 and could effectively have chosen his destination, yet his intention was apparently straightforward: stay at Barça for his entire career.
That is also what makes Messi’s eventual departure in 2021 remain such a painful chapter in the club’s modern history.
Lionel Messi was never driven by money. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
He did not ultimately become the one-club player he had imagined. Barcelona’s financial problems resulted in an emotional separation and his subsequent move to PSG.
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Messi has never seemed driven by money at any stage of his career, including when he decided to leave for Inter Miami despite having more lucrative Saudi offers.
His dream of retiring at Barça may not have transpired, but he spent his prime years at the club and will forever remain the greatest footballer the club has ever produced.
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