Diego Simeone reveals he spoke to Suarez on plans to onboard Lionel Messi to Atletico

Lionel Messi's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain was probably the biggest news to hit the stands, not because of the finances involved but because the six-time Ballon d'Or had not played for any club except Barcelona. The Catalans' rival Atletico Madrid's boss Diego Simeone has said that he considered the idea of signing Messi for the Rojiblancos and even spoke to the Argentine superstar's former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez regarding the same.

"I didn’t call Leo, but I did call Luis to ask him how Messi was doing, whether he fancied it and whether there was the slightest chance of him coming to Atlético," he told Ole. "It was something that lasted three hours because PSG already had their hearts set on signing him. So the chance to work with Messi has never come up. He was always at Barca (before joining PSG), I’ve been at Atletico and we didn’t coincide as players in the Argentina national team."

Suarez and Messi formed a wonderful partnership together in Barcelona where they won several trophies including the Champions League and the multiple La Liga titles until the Uruguayan striker was forced out of the club because Ronaldo Koeman did have him in his plans.

Messi needs team set up to win

Messi has not had the best of starts to life in Paris. He is yet to score a goal in Ligue 1 and has struggled a little bit with an injury. He did, however, score a beautiful goal against Manchester City in their clash in the UEFA Champions League. He was then asked about what team would suit Messi, Simeone responded saying any team that has the desire to win and that Messi can play in any position.

"If you ask me where Messi has to play, I’ll say in a team that wants to win," Simeone said. "In a team that knows what it needs to do to win. It doesn’t matter what position he plays; what matters is that the team is set up to win. Don’t think about him, think about the team."

When the Argentine coach was quizzed about having made any contact with Messi, Simeone said: "No, nothing at all; it was like watching a plane go by in the sky."

(Image: AP)