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A 13-year-old Lionel Messi could have joined Real Madrid instead of Barcelona, says the man who arranged his Barca trial. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner famously relocated from Rosario, Argentina to Barcelona as a youth in February 2001 with the help of Horacio Gaggioli, who lived in the city and had set up Messi's tryout with the Camp Nou club the previous September. However, the Argentine agent told Globoesporte had he taken up residence in Madrid -- where he considered living -- back then, he believes the Barca No. 10 would have begun his European career at the Bernabeu. "Due to life circumstances, I went to live in Barcelona and I brought him to Barca for a trial. But I was about to live in Madrid," Gaggioli said. "If that had happened, I would have taken him to Madrid for a trial. That's life, those are the details. "Today, Messi could have been a Real Madrid player, of course. The family wanted to come to Spain, to the city where I was to have some support." Messi has gone on to win eight La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns among a long list of trophies with the Catalan club. But upon first meeting the future world phenom, Gaggioli said Messi, who broke into the Barca senior team as a 17-year-old in 2004, didn't pass the look test. He wasn't convinced until he watched him train. "When I saw him at the airport, I thought that boy could not be a footballer, because he was too small and skinny. "I did not have a good impression. But when I saw him training in the Barca fields, I realised that he was a great player, who could play without a doubt."
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