SO you thought you had a world-beating replica shirt collection? Well, we hate to be the bearers of bad news but Lionel Messi’s is considerably better.
Not content with simply being the best player in global football, the Barcelona wizard has also put together an assortment of club and national colours the likes of which most souvenir hunters could only dream about.
Messi showed off his ensemble in a social media post on Tuesday, with some of the top names in the game represented on the walls, and in the floor and ceiling, of his memorabilia room.
Across the 13 years of his glittering career, the Argentinian maestro has graced just about every major stage – including the World Cup and Champions League finals – and as such has been perfectly placed to swap shirts with his fellow superstars.
And, seemingly a sucker for nostalgia, Messi has been quietly accumulating a vast collection in private.
There are headline names – Thierry Henry, Raul, Iker Casillas, Francesco Totti, Pavel Nedved, Philipp Lahm, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure to name but nine- as well as some comparatively lesser lights.
Many football fans might not be familiar with Xabi Prieto of Real Sociedad, for instance, while Qatari outfit Lekhwiya’s striker Youssef El Arabi doesn’t have anything like the same billing as Messi in the sport.
Manuel Lanzini’s West Ham shirt takes pride of place right next to two Argentina World Cup jerseys despite he and Messi never having come face-to-face in a competitive game, while the striking green-and-yellow number bearing the name of former Aldosivi midfielder Hernan Lamberti earned a spot after the 33-year-old sent it to the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s home.
But plenty of his Barcelona team-mates past and present feature, including Dani Alves, Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez, while an abundance of Argentinian names adorn the walls.
Diego Milito, Angel di Maria, Pablo Aimar… the list goes on and on and on.
Players from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Holland, Germany, Brazil, Guinea, Morocco, the Czech Republic and Portugal are all represented – but there isn’t a single English name on show.
And there’s not even the slightest sign of CR7.
In total, there are 70 different shirts in the picture shared by Messi on Instagram, though it’s likely the room houses many, many more.
Which is all pretty remarkable considering the 29-year-old openly claims to not be naturally inclined to swapping shirts after a game.
‘If not and there is someone else that asks me, I will swap it with them. If not, I do not look and do not ask.
‘I asked, once…I asked (Zinedine) Zidane.’
Despite his reluctance to pick up matchday souvenirs, he’s obviously proud of his collection.
And why not.
It does put your dozen mix-and-match Premier League strips from the late 1990s into perspective, after all.
SOURCE: DAILYMAIL
