The international football is full of curious anecdotes, but few there are them so striking like which has explained Garry Cook. The ancient CEO of the Manchester City, club in which it worked between 2008 and 2011, has confessed that listened badly a telephone conversation in the entity 'citizen' and that put 73 million euros on of the table to try fichar to Leo Messi.
Apparently, and as it has explained Cook to the portal 'The Athletic', everything occurred when the Thai Thaksin Shinawatra was the owner of the club. The aim was to reinforce the team trained by Mark Hughes with the best possible players, and in that telephone conversation took part Pairoj Piempongsant, then the number two of Shinawatra.
"Something lost in the translation and, this listened more as 'have to achieve to Messi'"
"Pairoj Piempongsant was heating . The telephone was on the table and was speaking with Paul Aldridge, the one who had been previously in the West Ham and got in trouble -by the signings of Tévez and Mascherano-, and also was part of the world of Thaksin. It imagines the scene. It is Paul with his accent londinense: "Pairoj, have to say me what are doing, is going out of control". 'Pairoj Was put to bed in a tumbona, receiving a massage and shouting:' Himself, yes, yes! The market is very disordered, disordered, is going back disordered (Yes, yes, yes! Very messy, messy, it's getting messy!)".
Well, seem to be that Cook misunderstood the conversation. "Something lost in the translation and, in sight of my daughter, this is the truth, this listened more as 'have to achieve to Messi' (We'go got to get Messi)". In this sense, Cook decided to do all the possible to bring to Messi to the Etihad Stadium, and the Premier League contacted with him to confirm if it had made an offer of 70 million pounds to the Barça.
"Paul Aldridge came me afterwards and said me: "Garry, this is going back garbled, do not know what are doing here". I said him: "it Presents the offer, see what occurs us ", relates Cook. "Then Dave Richards called me the next day from the Premier League: "Garry, have done an offer by Leo Messi? 70 million pounds? You are crazy?".
It would have accepted the offer the Barça of Laporta?
The question is that, always according to the own Cook, the Barça of Joan Laporta could have been interested in the offer of the Manchester City, that was born fruit of a misunderstanding and never arrived to confirm to official level. Well, the rest of the history already knows it all the world.
Messi finish remaining in the Camp Nou and turned into the best footballer of the world, and can that of the history. Six Balloons of Gold, three Glasses of Europe more and eight Leagues that added to the Champions League won already in 2006 and to the Leagues of 2005 and 2006, without explaining the rest of titles and individual awards that was receiving the Argentinian with the step of the years. Less bad that remained you, Leo.