Africa-born Spain international Ansu Fati has revealed the heartfelt gesture Lionel Messi made to him after his FC Barcelona debut in 2019 that left him feeling "eternally grateful".
Fati broke on to the scene in August 2019 at the age of just 16 years old after impressing in the Blaugrana's famed La Masia academy.
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After an impressive start to his senior career, the Guinea-Bissau-born talent has, unfortunately, been blighted by injuries in recent seasons, and missed almost the entire 2020/21 campaign as a result.
However, before Fati's disastrous knee setback in 2020, he featured frequently alongside Messi, and the pair would eventually play 34 games together before the Argentine's shock departure to Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021.
The Spain international went on to inherit the iconic No. 10 jersey from the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, whom he had previously revealed to be his idol.
Fati has now opened up about one of his proudest moments with the recently crowned world champion.
"After my debut game against [Real] Betis, Leo waited for us in the locker room to congratulate us on the victory," the 20-year-old told France Football.
"When I arrived, to my surprise, he took me in his arms.
"The team photographer took a photo of the two of us and then Leo uploaded it to his Instagram.
"With all the followers he has, of course, many people liked the image and started following me. After that, I received millions of notifications on my mobile, it was crazy.
"I will never forget this gesture and I will be eternally grateful.
"For a player of his stature to do that is something very important to me.
"I keep the photo precious at home, forever.
"I remember that Ronaldinho supported him a bit in the same way when he started. He did the same with me.
"This was a real source of additional motivation for me."
Known to have been linked with Real Madrid at the age of 10, the winger also revealed why he opted against joining Los Blancos and go to Barca instead in 2012.
"I participated in futsal competitions throughout Spain with Peloteros. We won a tournament in Madrid, where Atletico, Real Madrid, Getafe were... Before signing for Barca, I tried Real Madrid," he continued.
"At that time, the club did not have a residence to house its young players. After discussing it with my father, we decided that Barca was the best option, with La Masia, both for football and for my education."
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With Fati's rise to the Spanish elite starting from humble beginnings in Guinea-Bissau, he also reflected on how his love for football took off in west Africa.
"I started playing in the street with my cousins at the age of three," the Blaugrana talent added.
"In Guinea-Bissau, children have this freedom almost from the time they can walk.
"I remember my mother called me when dinner was ready. We used to play barefoot. Those with a little more means had plastic sandals.
"We took socks that we rolled between us to make a ball! Every once in a while we managed to retrieve a rubber ball, but, when we were shooting at something sharp, it was finished."
Fati played in his first FIFA World Cup with La Furia Roja in Qatar, but made just two appearances from the bench, against Japan and Morocco.
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