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#3 Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria and Lionel Messi share a great rapport with each other, thanks to their matches for Argentina over the years. The two did meet in La Liga for a few seasons, but did so on opposite sides of the pitch, as Di Maria was playing for Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid.
But three years after Di Maria left Madrid, Messi reportedly asked the Barcelona board to make a 'concerted' effort to bring in his compatriot to Camp Nou. That came just a few months before Neymar would leave the club to join PSG.
In a later interview with L'Equipe, Di Maria acknowledged Barcelona's interest in his services, saying:
“I was very happy in Paris. But people at the club at the time told me some things, which turned out to be lies in the end. Barca tried to get me to come. The two clubs discussed, but PSG did not want to sell me and that ended there."
With Di Maria well settled in the French capital after a decent club season and a Copa America 2021 triumph with Messi, he looks unlikely to join his compatriot at Camp Nou. If at all the two turn out for the same club team, it could be at PSG, as Messi is yet to be re-signed by Barcelona after the latter's contract ran out this summer.
#2 Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi go back a long way. The two young Argentines won the Olympic gold medal for their country at the 2008 Beijing Games and have since been prolific scorers for the senior team.
At club level, the duo locked horns regularly in La Liga before Aguero left Atletico Madrid to join Manchester City, where he went on to become the most prolific foreign goalscorer in Premier League history.
Aguero has now joined Barcelona on a free transfer this summer. But last summer, after the ignominous exit of Luis Suarez, Messi reportedly asked his club to bring in Aguero.
#1 Joshua Kimmich
Joshua Kimmich is an odd man out on this list, as the German international has never played with Lionel Messi with the same club team.
But the versatile Bayern Munich ace, who can play as a defensive midfielder or right-back, was one of three players reportedly 'demanded' by Messi; the two other players were Neymar and Milan Skriniar.
Of course, none of the transfers materialized, and Barcelona went on to endure a first trophyless campaign in more than a decade following a 2-8 mauling against Kimmich's Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
A few weeks later, Messi would drop a bombshell asking to be released from the club before he reluctantly stayed put. Now a free agent, Messi looks all set to be re-signed by Barcelona.
