Former Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng has criticized Lionel Messi’s attitude towards training, claiming that the Argentine legend was a “terrible example” for young players at Barcelona due to his laid-back approach.
Boateng, 38, played alongside Messi during his brief loan spell at Barcelona from Italian club Sassuolo in the second half of the 2018/19 season. Despite making just four appearances for the Catalan giants, he earned a La Liga winners’ medal as Messi spearheaded Barcelona’s title charge, finishing the season as the league’s top scorer with 36 goals.
In an interview with former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, Boateng shed light on Messi’s training habits, suggesting that his relaxed approach negatively influenced young players at the club, including Malcom and Ousmane Dembélé.
"So we come into the dressing room, and he's just sitting there on his phone, getting a massage while seated," Boateng recalled. "Two minutes before we go out, he just stands up, ties his boots, and goes out. Before a Champions League game against Liverpool, during the warm-up, we were doing a crossbar challenge, and then he just went back inside. The coach made the last adjustments, and [Messi] was on his phone, FaceTiming. Thirty seconds before we went out, he just put his jacket on and—boom—goal, goal, goal."
Boateng argued that Messi's approach to training misled younger players into thinking they could replicate his routine without suffering consequences.
"That's what the young players at Barcelona—Malcom, Dembélé—did. They saw him and thought they didn’t need to train hard. Then they went into games and got injured," he explained. "Messi is the only one in the world who can do that and still deliver."
Despite his training habits, Messi’s brilliance on the pitch was undeniable. The Argentine icon led Barcelona to eight La Liga titles in an astonishing 11-year span and has won the Ballon d’Or a record eight times.
