Samuel Eto'o Told 'You Played With Lionel Messi' And He Couldn't Help But Hit Back

Samuel Eto'o couldn't help but have a joke after being told he 'played with Lionel Messi' during his Barcelona career.

Eto'o spent five years alongside Messi at at the Camp Nou between 2004 and 2009, when the Argentine superstar was first breaking through.

The duo won three La Liga titles together as well as the Champions League in 2009 - but Eto'o was probably the bigger name at the time.

He was regarded as one of the world's best strikers during his prime and couldn't help but bring that up in a recent interview.

Eto'o was asked: "You mention Messi, what can he [Ansu Fati] learn from Messi? You obviously played with him..."

The former Cameroon international hit back with a smile on his face: "No. He played with me it's different. Messi played with me. I didn't play with Messi. In my time, Messi played with me. It's totally different. It's totally different."

Eto'o clearly didn't take the wording of that question too well and brushed it off quite well.

Messi was tipped for greatness from a young age but he had a couple of issues when starting out at the Blaugrana.

Former Real Madrid man Eto'o revealed just how he managed to help Messi through those hardships.

He told DAZN per The Sun: "[Messi] confessed to me that, thanks to my advice, which I am not going to reveal, his career had changed.

"One day he said: 'Thanks to Samuel, my career changed'.

PA

"He had to fix two or three things but he has always had the talent.

"I am proud and happy to see that he has written history which has yet to be finished, and it will be very difficult to beat what he has written."

"He was going up and down from La Masia to the first team. We already knew that one day Messi was going to be what he is.

"I am happy because he has made it in the end, thanks to himself. He showed me that nothing has changed. He is still the good person I met."

Messi is set to sign a new contract with Barcelona after fears he would leave this summer.

Topics: Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_