10 Players You Didn't Know Barcelona Almost Signed

7. Kaka

Former AC Milan star Kaka could have been a Barcelona star, had Milan been prepared to agree to a player exchange involving the Brazilian and Ronaldinho. Kaka was at the San Siro at the time plying his trade for the Milanese outfit when former Barcelona president Joan Laporta had dinner with Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi is that this point reported to have proposed a player-exchange deal involving Kaka and Ronaldinho. Laporta explained: "We had dinner with Silvio Berlusconi and he proposed a player-exchange deal involving Kaka and Ronaldinho. That was not an option for us, though, as Ronaldinho was a key player for us back then.

"It started out as a bit of a joke, but Berlusconi quickly turned serious. It's a real shame that Kaka has not really succeeded at Madrid. He was a fantastic player at AC Milan."

Kaka did end up leaving Milan but joined Barca's fierce El Clasico rivals Real Madrid instead, where he flopped badly, falling down the pecking order in his final season at the Bernabeu and managing just three goals in 2012-13.