Lionel Messi named his 10 favourite teammates in his career as feelings on Neymar made clear

Over the course of his time at Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami, and with the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi has previously identified the ten players with whom he had the most enjoyable experiences while playing.

Having made his professional debut for Barcelona in 2004, the eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or has had the opportunity to play alongside some of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

The 17 years that Messi spent playing for the first team at Camp Nou included him sharing the pitch with a multitude of world-class talent, such as Xavi, Carles Puyol, and Andres Iniesta, as they won four Champions League titles. Messi was a member of the team that won all four of those titles.

In point of fact, all ten of the players he enjoyed playing alongside the most were Barcelona players. During an interview with a Chinese media outlet called Titan Sports, two of his current teammates at Inter Miami were mentioned.

“I was lucky to play for a long time at Barcelona… with many of the best players,” Messi told reporters in the year 2023.

“Like Ronaldinho, Deco, [Samuel] Eto’o, [Luis] Suarez, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [Sergio] Busquets, I was lucky enough to play with the best players and enjoy the game with them.”

Messi then brought up one of his most talented teammates working at the club level after a brief pause in the conversation. I almost forgot about Neymar because there are so many people,” he said. “Speaking of which, I almost forgot about Neymar.”

After a few moments, the winner of the World Cup mentioned four other former teammates from Barcelona football team.

Messi went on to say, “There must be a great number of players that I failed to mention.” The best players, including strikers such as Neymar, Samuel Eto’o, Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa, and many others, have been my teammates. I’ve had the good fortune to play with some of the best players in the world.

“Because I’ve had the good fortune to play with the best of them, I’ve been able to feel at ease when I’m playing with all of them, or almost all of them,” I said. “Playing with them is simple.”

In 2023, Lionel Messi included Kylian Mbappe in his “dream XI” of former teammates, which also included Luis Suarez, Dani Alves, and Ronaldinho. Mbappe was also included in these players.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen was selected by the Argentine as his custodian, ahead of Victor Valdes and Gianluigi Donnarumma. After that, Dani Alves, Jordi Alba, Carles Puyol, and Javier Mascherano were chosen to make up his back four.

Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez were selected to play in the middle of the pitch alongside the ever-entertaining Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho was the one who provided Messi with the unforgettable assist that led to his first goal for the club, which he scored on May 1, 2005 against Albacete.

It should come as no surprise that Neymar and Luis Suarez, two players who thrived alongside Lionel Messi, were selected alongside Kylian Mbappe, a forward for Real Madrid, who was the only player from a club other than Barcelona to be included in the team.