PSV nearly signed Messi in 2005, says former chairman

10 Jan 2013 3:25:00 PM

The Eredivisie powerhouse were willing to take the Argentine on loan, but the Catalans eventually opted to hold on to the forward instead

EXCLUSIVE
By Jesse Wieten

Former PSV chairman Rob Westerhof has revealed that the Eredivisie side nearly signed Barcelona star Lionel Messi on loan in the summer of 2005.

The Argentine attacker had made his official Blaugrana debut the previous season, but the fact that he did not have a Spanish passport prompted the Catalans to try and look for a solution abroad as they could field three non-EU players.

"We're talking about the spring of 2005. I had a pretty good relationship with Barcelona president Joan Laporta and he approached me during a G14 meeting," Westerhof said to Goal.com.

"He told me they had this successful young player called Messi, and wanted to ship him out on loan to us as Spanish regulations prevented him from playing for them.

"PSV had a pretty good reputation at the time. Guus Hiddink was our coach, we had just won the league title and made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League."

Nevertheless, the club's technical staff eventually vetoed the transfer and Messi would go on to become a first team regular at Barcelona in the following season.

"We discussed it within the club and everybody was in favour of the move. We knew that he was an excellent player and there was no problem for us. We were enthusiastic about the signing of Messi," he continued.

"But when we then wanted to make a move, Laporta gave me a call. He told me the technical staff were against the transfer.

"I got the feeling [Frank] Rijkaard and [Henk] Ten Cate would rather not see him move to Netherlands. They thought it was a bad idea to let him experience new things elsewhere and preferred to keep him somewhere close.

"Laporta and Txiki Begiristain thought PSV would be a good destination, but their staff didn't support the idea."

Messi became the first footballer ever to win the Ballon d'Or four times in succession earlier this week.

Inside Goal.Com

Exclusive interview: Tovey on Chiefs title
AmaKhosi legend Neil Tovey shares his views with Goal on a remarkable season that his former team has had since August last year
Player Ratings: Siena 1-2 AC Milan
Goal was on hand to judge all the players as Allegri's men finished third in Serie A and secured a Champions League berth next season
SA Goal readers best comments of the week
Read our second installment of our Goal readers comments on all the big talking points in South African soccer over the week. Join the discussion on our Facebook and Twitter
Feature: How Kaizer Chiefs won the PSL title
Goal highlights the 10 most important matches which helped Chiefs claim their first PSL title in eight years
Who is the greatest Champions League striker ever?
Enter our competition now and you will be in with a chance of winning one of four replica football shirts. Simply pick your favourite and subscribe to our YouTube channel