REVEALED: How Arsene Wenger missed out on signing 16 year old Messi

Arsene Wenger missed out by a whisker to sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona's famed La Masia academy when the Argentine 'Little Master' was just 16.

Wenger wanted to sign three players in 2003 - Messi, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas - with the promise of playing first-team football in their teens and, incredibly, Messi was interested in moving to north London, but the deal was fraught with problems because of issues over the Argentina forward’s work permit, according a Daily Mail report.

Instead, Wenger signed Fabregas after convincing the Spanish midfielder that his progress to the first-team would be quicker.

Fabregas, now at Chelsea, made his first team debut for Arsenal in a League Cup game a month after he arrived at the club while Messi made his debut for Barcelona when he was 17 years, 114 days old under Frank Rijkaard, but he had to wait until the 2006-07 season before he really established himself as a first choice.