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Lionel Messi Fulfils Social Media Promise To Fan By Signing Incredible Barcelona Tattoo

Lionel Messi Fulfils Social Media Promise To Fan By Signing Incredible Barcelona Tattoo

"Now I can die in peace," joked Brazilian Barca supporter after meeting his idol.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Lionel Messi has kept a promise he made to a fan on Instagram by personally signing the most remarkable Barcelona tattoo we've ever seen.

Brazilian Barca fan Igor Magalhaes joked that he can now die happy after meeting his football idol and getting the signature inked on as part of his epic tattoo.

This journey began back in 2019, when Magalhaes decided to get a vast back tattoo of one of the most iconic Messi images: holding up his No 10 shirt, after his sublime late winner gave Barcelona a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid and silenced the Bernabeu. The tattoo took three full sessions to complete.

However it only really started making headlines this week when the fan - a military firefighter - watched Argentina train in Brasilia during the Copa America and revealed his tattoo to a TV crew.

An Instagram post, shared by TyC Sports, was seen by millions of people in just a few days - including Messi, who dropped an incredibly rare response on social media.

"Terrible tattoo!" joked the Barca icon (used in the way English speakers might say 'wicked tattoo'), adding: "I love it! I would like to see it and sign it."

Remarkably, a meeting between the pair was arranged for outside the Argentina team hotel in Brazil this weekend. Messi emerged with his national team's security and a marker pen, walked over to the group of fans - including Magalhaes - and signed his tattoo as promised.

"Now I can die in peace," the fan wrote on Instagram after sharing a photo of the special moment.

The signature has now been inked in below the original tattoo for permanent posterity.

"I thought Messi was not going to stop," the fan told journalist Matias Pelliccioni, per ESPN. "I saw him, he looked at me and [I] turned my back.

"I am happy forever, there are no more words to describe this. I want to say thank you very much to all the Argentine people."

Featured image credit: PA Images/@tatografias

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Topics:Β Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Argentina