Imagining If Lionel Messi Had Signed for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger

There is a parallel universe in which Lionel Messi became a Gunner. According to Sky Sports and Bleacher Report’s Guillem Balague, Arsenal tried to prise a teenage Messi away from Barcelona in tandem with Cesc Fabregas. 

In his book, Messi (h/t Sky Sports), Balague claims that Arsenal’s Spanish scout, Francis Cagigao, held talks with Messi’s family about the possibility of a move to London.

Ultimately, the talks proved fruitless:

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The English club could not offer a flat for the family, and there would be difficulty obtaining a work permit. Bit by bit points of mutual interest evaporated until the offer lay dead in the water. But they left Jorge [Messi’s father] with a message: ‘Any time you encounter problems, remember, our club wants him.’

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It’s tempting to imagine how things might have turned out had Messi moved to Arsenal at 16. Would he have developed into the same player and fulfilled his enormous potential? Could he have thrived without Xavi and Andres Iniesta to feed his hunger for goals?

Upon arrival in England, he would most likely have been housed along with Fabregas, who lodged with an English family in Enfield along with Philippe Senderos. The plan had originally been to move Fabregas, Messi and Gerard Pique to London together, ensuring the young Spanish speakers had an embedded support network at the club.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Like Fabregas, Messi would most probably have made his debut in the League Cup tie with Rotherham in October 2003. As the Argentine is a month younger than the Catalan schemer, he would have become the Gunners’ youngest-ever first-team player. 

However, first-team football would still have been some way away. At this time, Arsenal were well-stocked for attacking options. The likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord would have been ahead of the talented teenager in the queue for a first-team place.

Even someone as gifted as Messi would have struggled to break into the Invincibles side of 2003/04.

There’s also the question of his physique. Messi made his league debut for Barcelona in October 2004, aged 17 and 114 days. However, at that stage, Messi was still incredibly lightweight, more than living up to his billing as the "Little Flea."

It’s difficult to imagine him being thrown into the hurly-burly of the Premier League at the same age. He would have been forced to bide his time, most likely waiting until he began to fill out in 2005 before being thrust into the first-team picture.

When Messi made the breakthrough at Barcelona, it was in the wide areas. Initially, he was used largely on the right flank, from where he was able to cut in on his preferred left foot.

It’s likely that he would have fulfilled a similar role in his early days at Arsenal.

Given his diminutive stature, it’s hard to envisage him being used as a centre-forward. He would have been deployed on either wing and asked to use his pace and finishing to make diagonal runs and replicate the goal threat of Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires.

In time, however, Messi would surely have been groomed as the replacement for Bergkamp. When Messi was 18, Bergkamp was twice his age. Messi’s rise to prominence would have coincided perfectly with the phasing out of the Dutchman.

Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

In reality, Messi and Thierry Henry went on to link up to superb effect at Barcelona. Had things turned out differently, they might have formed a deadly combination in London rather than La Liga. Would it have been enough to prevent Henry leaving the club? Possibly not.

The financial realities of Arsenal’s move to the Emirates Stadium would have remained the same. Big players would still have been sold to ease the burden of upgrading the ground.

Arsene Wenger planned to mitigate against the loss of major stars by building around a young core, with Fabregas at its centre. However, that plan went up the spout when the midfielder decided to go back to Barcelona. Who is to say that Messi would not have done the same?

The closer Messi got to fulfilling his potential, the closer he would edge toward the exit from Arsenal. It’s tempting to imagine that securing Messi would have prevented the trophyless spell of the mid-2000s. However, the financial impact of moving stadium was so great that not even Messi could have helped Arsenal withstand it.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout the 2014/15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.