Lionel Messi’s behaviour inside dressing room was not what team-mate expected

Lionel Messi’s former  Paris Saint-Germain team-mate, Achraf Hakimi, spoke of his surprise at the Argentinian superstar’s dressing room presence. Messi’s stint with PSG was marked by turbulence, joining reluctantly in 2021 due to Barcelona’s financial woes preventing a contract renewal.

Despite winning Ligue 1 in consecutive campaigns, Messi opted to leave last year after becoming discontented, making a move to Major League Soccer with David Beckham’s Inter Miami.

However, Hakimi, who continues to play for PSG, revealed that Messi, often hailed as one of the greatest footballers of all time, was surprisingly down-to-earth for a star as bright as the Argentinian.

“Building a technical relationship with him is easy,” Hakimi told L’Equipe in 2021. “I give him the ball, I run and he will put it where it belongs! (Laughs) I was surprised by the way he behaved, he is simple, quiet.”

Real Madrid academy product Hakimi also admitted his shock at the 37-year-old leaving behind his beloved Blaugrana for the French capital.

“For Messi to leave Barca, like everyone else, I didn’t expect it,” Hakimi added. “And when I heard you were coming here, what can I say? A dream for me! I played with many great players and the only one I missed was Messi! I am proud to evolve with such a good footballer.”

The language barrier has proven a slightly more challenging obstacle to overcome for the Argentinian wizard since he switched to his current club in the US, with German-born team-mate Julian Gressel coming clean on how Messi has settled stateside.

“Between me and Leo we’ve had this running joke a little bit. I asked him if he speaks any English and he was like ‘no, not really, your Spanish is probably better than my English’,” Gressel revealed on his Player Manager podcast.

“There was one moment he came over to me and spoke to me in English. It was the first time he spoke to me in English – during the game he covers his mouth because there are always a billion cameras on him.

“He covers his mouth and says ‘now, we change. You stay and Jordi (Alba) runs, Jordi goes more in behind’. I was just like ‘yes, ok – sounds good!’ The funny part was after, he goes ‘English, pretty good, no?’ I was like ‘yes, very very good! I understood everything!'”