Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz says they could've signed Barcelona superstar Leo Messi as a junior.

Sanz, now 75, revealed the news speaking to Idolos.

"The current representative of [Marco] Asensio (Horacio Gaggioli) was the one who brought Messi to Spain," Sanz said.

"The parents told him that he had to be brought [in Spain], but he still did not know whether to take him to Madrid or Barcelona.

"They told him to take him wherever, but in the end he went to Barcelona."