Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo Were Destined To Be Teammates Until One Decision Changed Everything

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could have been destined to become teammates if it wasn’t for a major decision that soon changed the history of soccer.

Messi has represented Barcelona ever since he turned pro. But some fans may not know that Messi’s former agent, Horacio Gaggioli, said the Barcelona superstar could have joined Real Madrid as a youngster instead.

In an interview with Ivan Raupp of Globo Esporte (transcripted by ESPN.com), Gaggioli revealed how he was close to taking the young Messi to Madrid as part of his life decision to move to the nation’s capital.

"Due to life circumstances, I went to live in Barcelona, and I brought him (Messi) to Barca for a trial. But I was about to live in Madrid. If that had happened, I would have taken him to Madrid for a trial. That's life. those are the details,” Gaggioli revealed.

"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,” he added.

Eventually, Gaggioli stayed in Barcelona and Messi officially joined the club in 2001 at the age of 13. Gaggioli’s statement was later backed by former Barcelona player Carles Rexach.

According to Rexach, he was already a Barcelona executive when he met then-13-year-old Messi. Along with his father, Messi arrived at Barca in September 2000 and blew people away with what he could do with the ball. Dazzled by the young Messi’s unique abilities, Rexach saw a bright future ahead and decided that he wouldn’t want to let Messi slip away.

However, other Barcelona executives at the time were skeptical about Messi's height and physique. Messi’s own father, Jorge, threatened to take him elsewhere. And as Gaggioli’s claimed, Real Madrid was the next stop.

It was at this point that Rexach decided to take matters into his own hands. He opted to write out a contract for Messi “on a napkin” signed by all three other members of the Barcelona management present at the time.

Had Messi’s former agent and father made a different decision and taken the future legend straight to Madrid, it would have been a no-brainer and the young “Leo” could have been Real’s superstar. Given this “what if,” it was inevitable that after nine years, Real Madrid would have signed a promising Portuguese striker named Ronaldo. And the history of modern soccer would have been completely different if the current bitter rivals had become teammates.

Today, Ronaldo and Messi are now playing in different leagues. The former has taken his talents to the Italy, while the latter has remained faithful to his Spanish club. However, be it in breaking records, scoring goals or earning honors, the two are still silently competing against each other.