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.
Torres has a close relationship with former Barca president Joan Laporta and was hopeful of luring two of world football’s biggest names to the club.
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.
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"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 .