Arsene Wenger wanted Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal

Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger revealed on Friday that he "could have signed" Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi when he was just 15 years old.

"We wanted to take [Cesc] Fabregas, Messi and [Gerard] Pique. It worked only for Fabregas," Wenger said. "I think in the end he was not so keen to move."

He refuted, though, that the only reason he didn't sign Barça's No. 10 was because of problems finding somewhere for him and his family to live.

"It was not completely down to a flat in the end," Wenger continued. "It was down to the fact that Messi was comfortable at Barcelona."

Fabregas enjoyed several years at Arsenal before rejoining Barça. He is now a key part of Jose Mourinho's team at Premier League leaders Chelsea.

Pique went to Manchester United and then returned to Camp Nou, while Messi has never left the Catalan club.

Wenger has also said in the past that he just missed out on signing Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba during his time in the Arsenal hot seat.