Lionel Messi reveals Barcelona significance behind his all-black leg ink: ‘I got this tattoo to show my love for the club that made me what I am’

Lionel Messi demonstrated his love for his former team, Barcelona, ​​​​by opening his tattoo dedicated to the Spanish giants.

The 36-year-old spent 21 years at his boyhood club Barcelona before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 amid the Catalans’ financial problems.

But despite his departure from the Nou Camp two years later, the Inter Miami star is still dear to the Blaugrana.

Now plying his trade in the US, Messi has a number of tattoos, the most notable of which is one on his left leg.

The heavily inked football star’s shin is completely covered in black ink with the number 10, the FC Barcelona crest, a football and the Argentine FA badge.

The 36-year-old spent 21 years at Barcelona before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021

The heavily inked football star’s shin is completely covered in black ink with the number 10, the FC Barcelona crest, a football and the Argentine FA badge

In an interview with Argentinian comedian Migue Granados, the World Cup winner opened up about its meaning.

“I got this tattoo to show my love for the club that made me what I am,” he said, referring to the Barcelona crest among the ink.

“It turned out well: ball, 10, Argentina, Barca,” he joked, explaining that he got the design to replace a former tattoo.

“I didn’t like the tattoos I had,” he said. “I got them at a time when I managed to get it done. It was a typical thing when you went to the tattoo artist: “Tell me what I can get done, ha.”

“And then I transformed it a little bit. I have a few football related things. In fact, I should try it again, but at this point, but I don’t feel like it anymore (…) I kind of sent it, I fixed it a little bit, right?’

Messi then joked about Granados’ tattoos, calling a few on the comedian’s arms terrible.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner had all but ruled out a move to the US after his family set their sights on a return to Barcelona, ​​but that became impossible due to the club’s financial situation. Miami’s bid on the astronomical amounts proposed by Al-Hilal.

Messi had another tattoo on his left shin and calf before blackening it in later years

Barcelona were confident they could afford their former player’s $27 million gross salary, but because they are above the La Liga-mandated maximum roster spend, the club is subject to the Spanish league’s ’40 percent rule’ meaning they would have to lose $107 million. of their payroll to add $43 million for another player.

The club’s president, Joan Laporta, assured Messi’s father Jorge Messi that the club would be able to do so, but it could take until the end of the window on September 1 and Messi was not willing to wait.

He was still sad from the summer of 2021 when he returned from his holiday in Ibiza to sign a new Barcelona contract, only to be told by the Catalan club that it had been taken off the table due to financial problems.

Instead of a reunion at the Nou Camp, Messi made the move to Miami, marking MLS’s biggest coup, on a two-and-a-half-year contract believed to be worth $50-60 million.