Reported Manchester City transfer target, Thiago Almada, has previously caught the attention of Lionel Messi.
Earlier this week, it was claimed that the Citizens have consulted Atlanta United over a potential transfer move for the 22-year-old.
With a potential chance of joining Pep Guardiola’s side this summer, one player, who knows what it takes to play under the Spaniard, has previously shared his thoughts on the United star after getting a close-up view of what he’s about.
Messi’s previous comments on Almada
Speaking after seeing Almada make his senior debut for Argentina in their 3-0 win over Honduras back in September, Messi had this to say about the young midfielder.
He said: “Thiago plays loose. He’s very fast and he has a lot of 1-v-1 ability. He’s very clever and he’s not afraid of anything. He goes at you.”
After scoring 24 goals and delivering 10 assists in 100 games for Velez Sarsfield, Almada joined United back in February last year.
Since then, the Argentine has scored 15 goals and provided 16 assists in 49 appearances across all competitions.
With 18 appearances to his name in the current MLS campaign, the midfielder has scored eight goals and supplied nine assists.
On the international stage, Almada has made four senior appearances for Argentina, across which he has scored one goal, which came during their friendly match against Panama in March.
He even made an appearance during Argentina’s World Cup campaign in Qatar where he played six minutes in the 2-0 win over Poland in the group stage.
With all of that in mind and what Messi had to say about his qualities, it’s easy to see why City have an apparent interest in the player.
Moving forward, if the European champions do look to land a deal for the youngster this summer, they could be getting a top prospect that has the potential to become one of Europe’s big talents.
