Lionel Messi wanted Inter Milan move, says Juan Sebastian Veron

The forward has spent his entire career at the Nou Camp but at one point, according to Veron, his head was turned

Former Argentina international Juan Sebastian Veron says that his compatriot Lionel Messi once wanted to play for Internazionale.

The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has spent his entire career at Barcelona, coming up through the club’s prestigious La Masia youth system.

Despite persistent rumours throughout the 28-year-old’s career linking him with a move away from the Nou Camp, the man many rate as the sport’s greatest ever player has stayed put.

Veron, however, who has played alongside Messi in the Argentinian national team and was on loan at Inter between 2004 and 2006, has claimed that the forward once told him of his wish to move to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

"It's been a few years, but one time he told me he would like to play for Inter," Veron told Italian sport newspaper Tuttosport.

"But let me be clear, this was something that happened in the past. Massimo Moratti was still the owner of Inter and, frankly, I see it impossible for Leo to leave Barcelona."

Moratti, an Italian petroleum tycoon, was president of the Serie A club from 1995 until 2013.

During his time at the club, he sanctioned a number of lucrative transfers, including two world record-breaking deals.

Ronaldo joined the club from Barcelona for £19.5m in 1997 and, two years later, Christian Vieri’s £31m move from Lazio stretched the club’s spending further still.