Real Madrid 'met Lionel Messi THREE TIMES over transfer' but he turned it down

Messi

Lionel Messi held talks with Barcelona 's archrivals Real Madrid over a shock move to the Bernabeu.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has been at the Catalan club since he was a teenager, and recently declared that he would never play for another European club.

But it didn't stop him having discussions with Madrid on three separate occasions, according to Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.

“The first attempt from Real Madrid to sign Messi happened in the summer of 2011. At Madrid they feared that Cristiano Ronaldo would leave the club for a huge offer from Manchester City, and that was when they put into motion the work to replace him with another star.

“Real Madrid used an intermediary to arrange this meeting who wasn’t a club employee but was someone very close to Florentino Perez. The response was rapid and clear: ‘Thanks for the interest, but Leo isn’t moving.’

Real Madrid then made renewed efforts in summer 2013 when, once again, Cristiano Ronaldo’s future was up in the air as he dawdled over signing a new contract. What’s more, Neymar had turned down the Bernabeu club to head for Catalunya and Perez tested the waters with Messi again - only to be rejected once more.

The final meeting reportedly took place just over a year ago, where the Argentina captain would reject the Blaugrana for a third time.

These stories come hot on the heels of reports that Real Madrid had met with Messi's heir to the Barca throne, Neymar, in Zurich this month.

Radio station Onda Cero claimed that a party including the Brazilian, his father, his agent Wagner Ribeiro, Andre Cury and a Real Madrid representative were present at the meeting.

Neymar is currently negotiating withBarcelona over an extended contract that will make him the second-highest earner at the club after Lionel Messi.

And, despite reports of this meeting taking place around the Ballon d'Or gala (below), the Nou Camp club are not in the least bit concerned about Neymar jumping ship.

While the 23-year-old's camp may well have met with Barca's archrivals to try and leverage a better deal, it is understood that the framework for the Brazilian's new deal has long been in place and will be made official in the summer.

Manchester United are also admirers of Neymar and were reportedly willing to pay his release clause.