Lionel Messi bought his neighbours' house because they were too noisy

Lionel Messi was once so annoyed by his neighbours making noise, that he bought their house off them to return peace to his neighbourhood.

When you've played at the highest level for as long as Messi, you get to do things others could only dream of, like win a World Player of the Year award for a 10th time, as he did back in February.

It literally has to be at his level because let's be honest, no one has come close in the history of the sport, as he picked up his second FIFA Best award.

Of course it was down to his part in winning the World Cup for Argentina at the end of the year, and will likely lead to an eighth Ballon d'Or, and 11th equivalent title, come the end of 2023.

The forward's career has seen him earn a huge number of individual awards and a ludicrous amount of team awards, leagues and cups.

Some even thought he'd 'completed football' after winning the World Cup in Qatar, although he shows no signs of retiring just yet.

Of course he's also amassed a fortune from playing, even if Cristiano Ronaldo has overtaken him as the world's highest paid athlete, and that allows him to do mad things like buying houses just to reduce noise.

According to former teammate Ivan Rakitic, that's exactly what the 36-year-old did back when he was playing for Barcelona.

"When he bought his house in Castelldefels, his neighbours were a little noisy, so Leo had to buy their house so that he could be alone [with his family]. Luckily I have never had those problems," the Croatian told Novi List, via the Daily Star.

Rakitic presumably knew not to make too much noise around Messi. Image: Alamy

According to the report, the former Barca star attempted to erect a wall between his house and the one next door to quieten the noise down.

That plan was stopped due to local regulations so he took the only logical step that everyone would be able to make and just bought the house.

I mean I'll probably never be able to afford a house unless I get an unexpected inheritance from a relative I don't know is rich, but sure just buy a second home because of a minor inconvenience.

Messi isn't necessarily one for sharing, after he was left roommate-less in Qatar at the end of last year, following Sergio Aguero's retirement.

When his mate came into camp towards the end of the tournament, the former Manchester City striker did move in with Messi, and then led the celebrations when the South Americans beat France in the final.