Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has confessed that he tried his luck to sign Lionel Messi when the forward's Barcelona contract expired in the summer.
Messi had an agreement on fresh terms with Barcelona for months and believed he would be staying at Camp Nou, only for La Liga's salary caps to get in the way and prevent Barcelona from getting the extension over the line.
In the end, Messi sealed a quick move to Paris Saint-Germain, but Simeone has confessed that he tried to use Messi's close friend Luis Suarez to mastermind a blockbuster switch to Atleti.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," he told Ole. "When what happened in Barcelona happened, I called Luis, with all due respect. I did not call Leo but Luis did.
"I asked him to find out how he was, what he was thinking and if there was even the slightest possibility that he could come to Atletico Madrid.
