Topics: Lionel Messi, Premier League, West Ham United, Argentina, Football
Fans are only just realising that Lionel Messi trained against a Premier League youth team in Romford while on international duty.
Messi is widely considered the greatest footballer of all time after being locked in a constant battle with former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo throughout his career.
The Inter Miami star has won a record eight Ballon d'Or across his career, most recently in 2023 when he picked up the award ahead of Erling Haaland despite the Norwegian winning the treble and breaking the Premier League goal record.
After spending all of his prime years in La Liga with Barcelona, followed by a short spell with PSG and now at Inter Miami, the only real criticism Messi has had is he never tried his luck in England.
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While Messi has put on impressive displays against the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Spurs, Manchester United, and Liverpool in the Champions League many have questioned whether he could do it on a 'cold rainy night' on a regular basis.
However, footage from 2014 appears to dispel those doubts as Messi actually took part in a training match against West Ham United's under-23 squad.
The opportunity arose as the Argentina national squad were preparing for a match in London so they made the decision to play a warm-up game in Romford which Messi played in.
Footage from the preparation game shows Messi dribbling through the entire youth team's defense before nonchalantly dinking the ball over the goalkeeper in classic Messi fashion.
Argentina made it to the World Cup final in the same year as his outing in Romford but failed to get his hands on the trophy despite winning the Player of the Tournament.
Messi finished second in the Ballon d'Or in 2014 behind, you guessed it, Cristiano Ronaldo, but Messi would get the trophy back from the Portugal star the year later after winning the Champions League with Barcelona.
