GOAL

Barcelona director Ariedo Braida has revealed that he wanted to lure Lionel Messi to AC Milan before he broke into the first team at Camp Nou.

The Italian, who recently joined Barcelona's technical committee, attempted to bring the prolific attacker to Serie A before he became a household name

Braida left his position as general director at Milan in January 2014 after 28 years at the club and recently joined a new technical committee at Barca to help oversee planning for the first team.

The 68-year-old claims he came close to poaching the four-time Ballon d'Or winner during his time at San Siro, though, before hailing him as a true phenomenon.

"Did I try to sign Messi for Milan in the past? I got a call from someone when he was still a little kid and tried to sign him," Braida told Esport 3.

"I have 30 years' worth of contacts and know a lot of people around the world.

"Messi is not simply a footballer. He is a phenomenon, an extraterrestrial. He is up there with Pele and Diego Maradona.

"He has incredible speed and takes aim at goal in an impressive way."

Messi made his official first-team debut at Barcelona in 2004-05 and has since developed into one of the best players in the history of the game.

The Argentina international is Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer as well as in La Liga and Champions League.