Joey Barton bafflingly claims ‘genetically modified’ Lionel Messi should have ASTERISK next to his titanic achievements due to the treatment the World Cup winner received as child for rare growth hormone deficiency
- Joey Barton says Lionel Messi should have an asterisk on his name, right down to ‘steroids’
- The Argentinian received treatment as a child to correct stunted growth
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Joey Barton has launched his latest tirade towards Lionel Messi, claiming there should be an asterisk next to his name because of the treatment he received as a child to combat a rare growth hormone deficiency.
Messi is considered one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game. He has won eight Ballon d’Ors and has dominated the sport for more than a decade.
His exploits at Barcelona saw him become the club’s best ever player and record goalscorer, while he also led Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022 – their first major tournament win since Diego Maradona’s 1986 side.
However, according to former Premier League midfielder Barton, Messi’s name should carry an ‘asterisk’ as he believes the icon has been ‘genetically modified’ thanks to the treatment he received early in his football career.
Speaking on his Common Sense Podcast, the outspoken Barton said of the Argentine: “He’s an asterisk for me though,” before going on to explain it to his co-hosts.
Joey Barton thinks Lionel Messu should have a big asterisk next to his achievements
Barton has claimed that Lionel Messi was ‘genetically modified’ thanks to a growth treatment he received as a child
Messi was just 10 years old when he was diagnosed with a rare growth hormone deficiency
‘For me there is a big asterisk on Messi’s name because he was given steroids and the like at a young age to disrupt his growth.
“Messi was genetically modified at a young age, so there should be an asterisk next to his name.
‘He was given growth hormone and all kinds of medicines to help him grow. As far as I know, no one else has done that. So if you had let it grow naturally and left it on the roast dinners – or whatever – it wouldn’t have been big enough to end up doing what it ended up doing.”
Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency when he was 10 years old and it threatened to derail his already obvious path to football stardom.
The treatment cost $1,000 a month, which was paid for by Messi’s father’s health insurance for two years, but after that he could no longer finance what his son needed.
The story then goes that Messi’s father got a job in the city and eventually arranged a trial for his son at Barcelona where their medical team would help and the rest of his football history.
From this, Barton deduced that the 36-year-old has gained an advantage in his abilities and that there should therefore be a question mark next to his name.
Messi’s family did everything they could to ensure that he could fulfill his potential as a star
The Argentine has become one of the best of all time and a World Cup winner in 2022
Messi isn’t the first name Barton has spoken out against in recent months, with the former Man City and Newcastle player taking particular aim at female footballers with a series of bizarre comments.
He accused the BBC’s Alex Scott of running Football Focus ‘into the ground’ as a presenter, and also took a number of shots at pundit Eni Aluko, questioning her ability to speak about men’s football, alongside several sexist comments and attacks on the former England footballer.
Sexist comments were also made towards the England Lionesses and in particular Mary Earps, who he claimed could score 1000 out of 1000 penalties against the national team number one.
