Messi failed with an attempt to bring current Benfica winger to Barcelona in 2017 | OneFootball

Angel Di Maria played Barcelona countless times during his four-year spell at Real Madrid and will always be remembered for inflicting defeat on the Catalans in the famous 2011 Spanish Cup final where he assisted Cristiano Ronaldo in the winner.

He will face off against the club again tomorrow in the UEFA Champions League, this time with Benfica, and has been given the medical all-clear to return from injury and participate on the night.

As revealed by AS, Di Maria was in fact very close to signing for the Blaugrana in 2017. His compatriot Lionel Messi pressed hard for his incorporation to the then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu but it eventually did not work out.

PSG’s reluctance

The Spanish outlet reveals that the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner’s links with Barça were closely tied with PSG’s operation of signing Neymar Jr for €222 million in 2017.

Having lost one of their biggest names in exchange for the lump sum of money, Barcelona did not know how to respond and splashed the cash on Ousmane Dembele.

Messi wanted Di Maria at Barcelona in 2017. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Still left with money to spare, they looked out for more quality options they could incorporate and Di Maria was one player they were interested in.

PSG, who were facing Financial Fair Play sanctions, needed to generate revenue and thus put the Argentine up for sale. Messi tried his best to bring his compatriot to Catalonia as he knew that he was a reliable player who would fit in the system.

Bartomeu and Co. initially gave hope, but the transfer never really took off for a plethora of reasons.

The biggest hurdle was PSG’s reluctance to do business with Barcelona, especially given the friction that has grown between the two clubs. After all, they had a large divide after El Remontada and the Neymar transfer.