Fabio Capello has spoken of trying to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi for Juventus.

Capello admits Juve made their attempt when Messi was 16.

"There are categories and he, (Diego) Maradona and Pelé fall within that of geniuses, those who invent things that others can't even think of. They are not built, he has it in their DNA.

"I met Messi for the first time during the Gamper Trophy, Juve played against Barcelona. There were 90,000 spectators and he was 16," Capello tells Sky Sport Italia.

"I approached (Frank) Rijkaard after 15-20 minutes and asked him: 'Listen, can you loan him to me for a year?' He was 16, he came in and he played with everyone. It didn't take a Fabio Capello to understand that he was a genius.

"What did Rijkaard tell me? I knew they already had three foreigners and couldn't put the fourth foreigner on the list and he said: 'Fabio don't worry, there are no problems, we will somehow manage to play him'.

"The Catalans also had their plans. Even then, Messi was impressive."