Lionel Messi hatched private MLS transfer plan with Cesc Fabregas which never came off

Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas ' wives convinced them to move to Major League Soccer together - but the plan never came to fruition.

Messi and Fabregas came through Barcelona 's famed La Masia academy together before the latter left to join Arsenal aged 16. Then, eight years later, they would be reunited at the Catalan club as Fabregas returned from the Premier League in the summer of 2011. Over the next three seasons, Barcelona won five trophies, with Messi and Fabregas playing 123 times together. But in 2014, the latter would again leave the club, joining Chelsea.

Their paths crossed four years later in the Champions League, but they ultimately never played on the same team as each other again. That was confirmed this summer when Fabregas announced his retirement from football, and he has since moved into coaching, taking interim charge of Italian club Como earlier this month.

However, that was reportedly not the plan. Both wanted to join forces one last time in MLS at the behest of their spouses, but any moves never materialized. Antonela Roccuzzo, who married childhood sweetheart Messi in 2017, and Daniella Semaan, who wedded Fabregas a year later, are close friends, with the couples regularly spending their summers on holiday together.

"At some point, I am sure people will try to convince them to come to the MLS," Spanish journalist Guillem Balague said on CBS. "Basically, Cesc Fabregas wants to go to the MLS. Cesc Fabregas' wife and Messi's wife are very good friends. And they both, the wives, have convinced Cesc and Messi to go to America together. So when that will happen, we don't know yet, because, of course, Cesc is still at Monaco. But it is something that is in the back of the minds of both players."

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