Arsenal are a club that has played host to some of the greatest talents ever to grace the Premier League, with Arsene Wenger's Invincibles side enjoying the pleasure of most of them.
Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell and, of course, Thierry Henry are all names written into English football history due to their finesse, power, pace, technical prowess and winning mentality. They are north London heroes, with Mikel Arteta hoping to use them as inspiration to create a new generation of legends.
However, his appointment came about under odd circumstances, given he had never actually managed as the head coach of a club before, only as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City. With Unai Emery having failed to live up to the standards Wenger set after retirement, the former Gunners midfielder was instead employed and backed wholeheartedly.
The French boss would likely have never sought to leave his post though had he not seen a dramatic downturn in form during the latter years of his reign though, with some sections of the fanbase ruthlessly calling for his head.
However, it could have been all different had they signed one man who they tried for around the time they took Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona.
After all, Wenger clearly saw something special in a tiny unknown forward named Lionel Messi.
Did Arsenal nearly sign Lionel Messi?
It is well-documented that the 73-year-old former manager sought to pluck some of La Masia's brightest starlets around 2003, when the legendary Argentine in question was just 16 years old.
He would reveal just shortly after taking charge of his final game how he tried for numerous youngsters who would all choose different paths, Fabregas aside, and his regret on the failed moves:
"I met Cesc [Fàbregas’] parents and at the time we were interested in Messi and [Gerard] Piqué as well. We tried for the three but of course it didn’t work out … because of the agents. With Messi, Barcelona didn’t want to lose him of course and they made [the offer] that was needed to keep the player at the club.”
To make this touted saga even more dramatic, The Daily Mail wrote back in 2014: "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."
Unsurprisingly, this was a deal that would not come to fruition, and he spent the bulk of the rest of his career with the Catalan giants; a decision that proved profitable for him and the club, as he went on to become one of, if not the greatest player of all time.
Guardiola, who managed the 36-year-old for four years in Spain, certainly thinks it is the latter: "Everyone has [an] opinion, but nobody can doubt that he’s there with the greatest of all time. For me, I’ve said many times, he’s the best."
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Featuring 778 times for Barcelona, the 5 foot 8 trickster would score an astronomical 672 whilst also assisting a further 303. In maintaining such unimaginable numbers, he unsurprisingly holds numerous records. Just a few of the outstanding ones read: most Ballon d'Or wins (7), most La Liga assists (192), most La Liga goals in a single season (50), most La Liga goals (474) and most goals in a calendar year (91).
In a heated talkSPORT debate, Jason Cundy outlined Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the benchmark for the world's elite footballers, noting: "I think that there's really only two world-class players in the last five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, years. No one's on the same planet, or the same level as Messi or Ronaldo for me."
To imagine just how good he might have been for Arsenal will send shivers down the spines of every Gunners fan, who have witnessed some truly exceptional stars grace Highbury and the Emirates, but none like him.
It is a testament to his longevity, insane quality and ability to show up in the big moments that he boasts nine goals against the north London outfit, a further seven against Manchester City, and four against Manchester United.
He is indisputably one of the finest talents that the world has ever seen, so to think that Wenger came so close to signing him, and that he reportedly wanted to join is crazy. It outlines one of the great 'what could have been' stories, which went down a completely different but vastly successful alternate route with a certain Henry.
How good was Thierry Henry?
Had they plucked Messi from Barcelona as a teenager, it could have changed more than just their squad, although the speed with which Fabregas earned a regular spot in the starting side would likely have seen him soon break through.
Hypothetically, the aforementioned Henry, who was affectionately dubbed 'The King' during his tenure at Highbury, might not have played quite as influential a role had the 176-cap star signed, given he would almost definitely have taken a back seat to the silky left-footed superstar who could score goals from anywhere.
To compare their careers, whilst the French forward is widely recognised as the greatest to have ever played in the Premier League, he does not really come close to the current Inter Miami sensation.
Featuring a whopping 377 times for the north London side, he would score 228 and assist a further 103, marking an outstanding return. As such, he earned huge praise from Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher: "No, number one is not Alan Shearer – number one is Thierry Henry.
"Thierry Henry is the best player to have ever played in the Premier League so when I see this debate, that is not even a debate. Thierry Henry is the best striker to ever play in the Premier League and it is not even a debate."
Despite that, across his long and successful career, he actually scored and assisted less than Messi did across his spell at Barcelona alone. Not to mention that the Argentina international boasts a far more impressive trophy cabinet too, having won four Champions Leagues and 12 league titles in Europe, compared to the one time Henry won the elite European competition, and four league titles he won in Spain and England.
Had Wenger succeeded on his 2003 trip to Spain, bringing back this legendary forward to partner Henry, they would have surely dominated on a far greater scale than Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils did. Few could do what the 46-year-old former AS Monaco finisher managed during an exceptional career, and yet he still pails in comparison to Messi. Admittedly, so does everyone else.
