Lionel Messi was nearly my Espanyol teammate - Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino looks ahead to his side's crucial matches against Barcelona and Cardiff, after a hard-fought victory over Huddersfield. Barcelona's Ernesto Valverde admitted his gamble to rest Lionel Messi backfired as his side drew 1-1 to Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp. Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he nearly became a teammate of Barcelona's Lionel Messi at Espanyol in 2005. Pochettino, whose side face Barca in the Champions League on Wednesday, revealed that Messi had been close to moving to Espanyol before staying at the Camp Nou. "I started to hear about him when I was at Espanyol -- a small guy playing in the academy in Barcelona," Pochettino said. "He arrived when he was 13 years old, going from Argentina to Barcelona. Then I heard...

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