Zinedine Zidane stunned Lionel Messi when revealing his footballing idol who many fans won't have heard of before

Zinedine Zidane’s comments about his footballing ‘idol’ have resurfaced and it’s someone you may have never heard of.

Zidane would likely be many current players’ idol after a glittering career of his own. Known for his elegance on the ball and impressive passing range, the Frenchman ended his career with 13 major honours to his name following success at Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid and was once the world's most expensive player following his move from Juventus to Real Madrid.

‘Zizou’ also won the 1998 World Cup, scoring twice in France’s 3-0 win over Brazil in Paris.

Since becoming a manager, his knack for winning silverware has continued by guiding Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League crowns between 2016 and 2018, with La Liga success following in 2017 and 2020.

During his playing days, he played alongside and came up against some of the best footballers of all time. He sat down with arguably the greatest of them all, Lionel Messi, in a video for Adidas in 2023.

The pair discussed various topics, exchanging compliments along the way, but one topic prompted a particularly surprising answer.

When asked who his footballing idol was when he was a child, Zidane named little-known former Marseille midfielder Enzo Francescoli.

"He [Enzo Francescoli] was playing in Marseille, and I was 13,” he said.

“Before I went to Cannes, where I started playing, and he was playing in Marseille. And when I saw him, I said: 'I want to be him.' Because he was very elegant, you know? The way he played, the way he moved with the ball as well. I mean, you don't see that often.

"In France, we are usually just French players.

“There were not many foreigners, so when Enzo came... South American, we could see it was another [style of] football, different. And he played there, he did all sorts of things with the ball. So, I told myself, this one is a magician, and I wanted to do the same."

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Messi explained how he had heard a lot about the Uruguayan, even referencing how Zidane’s son Enzo shares a name with the ex-midfielder.

Francescoli’s most notable achievement in European football was winning the 1989/90 Ligue 1 title before stints with Italian sides Cagliari and Torino. He finished his career at Argentinian giants River Plate.

Messi then revealed how his idol growing up was Pablo Aimar, who played 52 times for Argentina.

"He was a player who I always liked the way he played, and he was in River, which had a great team, and he stood out a lot,” Messi said.

“And going back to what we were saying before, apart from Diego [Maradona], who was something else – for us, he also comes first and then the rest – Pablo was the person I admired as a player.”

Messi and Aimar played together 13 times for the national team. At club level, Aimar was best known for his double La Liga-winning stint at Valencia before having a lengthy stay in Lisbon with Benfica.