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Zinedine Zidane Wasn't The Only Player Lionel Messi Asked To Swap Shirts With

Zinedine Zidane Wasn't The Only Player Lionel Messi Asked To Swap Shirts With

"He said ‘give him your shirt, he wants your shirt too!’"

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

For a while it was thought that Zinedine Zidane was the only player Lionel Messi asked to swap shirts with but apparently it isn't the case.

Messi is not normally one to ask to swap shirts unless he's playing against a fellow Argentine but made an exception when he came up against the legendary Frenchman early on in his career.

Image: Lionel Messi/ Instagram
Image: Lionel Messi/ Instagram

However, it seems as though the six-time Ballon d'Or winner was also keen on acquiring another shirt years later when he asked for Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger's.

The two were on opposite sides of a Champions League knockout tie and though Rudiger thought there was no way Messi would want to swap, thanks to an assist from teammate Cesc Fabregas, who played with Messi, the German got the coveted jersey and still has it now.

He gave a brief overview of the story during a Q&A on Twitter.

In a separate tale of Messi handing shirts over, former Almeria player Fabian Vargas shed light on the 33-year old's touching gesture when he found himself on an 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona in 2010.

Before the game he asked Messi for his shirt to go towards an auction to help raise funds following a flood that had happened in his native Colombia and somehow forgot in the aftermath of the hiding,

But the man himself remembered and came to see him in the dressing room. In addition to his jersey from the match, he provided a number of shirts from his Barca colleagues.

Image: PA
Image: PA

"I went out and there he was with a little bag," he said.

"I remember he said, 'Look, these are the shirts that I could collect for you.' I thanked him and hugged him [thinking that it was just his shirt as I had requested from him].

"When I came back and opened the bag, there was [not just] Messi's shirt, but also those of Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, Dani Alves, [Gerard] Pique and [Carles] Puyol."

"I will never forget that gesture.

"[I wish that he] continues to break records. Because of his gesture to me, it's something I [will] always want."

Featured Image Credit: PA Images

Topics: Football News, Chelsea, Football, Barcelona, Antonio Rudiger, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid