Messi shares what Ronaldinho told him at 16

Lionel Messi has shared how Brazilian legend Ronaldinho and other senior Barcelona players helped him deal with his nerves as a young player. They advised him to ignore the pressure of being around football stars and just enjoy playing the game.

Messi, an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, said he found it hard to settle into Barcelona's first team at 16. His natural shyness made it tough, even though he had the talent to become one of the greatest footballers ever.

While speaking to students in Oviedo on Thursday, before receiving the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, Messi recalled how the presence of big names made him feel intimidated.

"I had to walk into a first-division dressing room packed with stars when I was just 16. I was nervous.

"I had people like Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Xavi, Carlos Puyol and many others around me.

"It was difficult for me because of my personality. I'm shy and I found it hard to come out of my shell," Messi said, according to GB News on Friday.

He said his older teammates encouraged him to forget about their fame and focus on the football he had loved since he was a kid.

"What they told me was to forget about everything, forget the context and just enjoy myself and do what I had been doing all my life since I was a kid, without thinking about who was next to me.

"They told me to do what I loved doing and what I enjoyed," he said.

Messi later became Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer and won many major trophies with the club.

Ronaldinho, who was one of the stars when Messi joined the first team, reportedly saw the teenager's amazing potential from their first training sessions together.

According to Guillem Balague's book on Messi, the Brazilian called journalist Cristina Cubero after training with the young player and said: "I've just finished training with someone who is going to be better than me."