Lionel Messi meets Colombian singer Maluma, gifts him special Inter Miami jersey
Football legend Lionel Messi met another star, but from a different field - Colombian singer Maluma. The Argentine icon gifted him a specially signed Inter Miami jersey.
Maluma, 29, is a massively popular man in the entertainment world. He has close to 63 million followers on Instagram.
The singer uploaded a photo alongside Messi on his Instagram, captioning the image thus:
"The approval of @leomessi was missing ✅🔥'DON JUAN' Drops this month!!!."
Lionel Messi has started life as an Inter Miami player in style and has so far scored five goals, apart from providing one assist in three matches for the MLS club.
The 36-year-old is attracting superstar names to the ground to watch him in action. The likes of Kim Kardashian, Serena Williams, DJ Khaled, LeBron James, and more have already attended his games. Maluma becomes the latest mega-star to get in touch with Messi.
Giorgio Chiellini spoke about stopping Lionel Messi
During his Inter Miami career, Lionel Messi has so far looked quite unstoppable and teams are yet to find a way to stop his goal-scoring exploits. The Miami-based club has won all of their three matches since Messi's arrival.
Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini, who currently plays for MLS club LAFC, however, hasn't been surprised by Messi's form. Chiellini thinks it's normal for a player like Messi to produce such numbers.
“I was not surprised. The problem is that maybe this league is surprised. I think they (MLS teams) have to do something better to try to contain Messi.”
Chiellini further provided a tip on how teams can do a better job at containing Messi.
“If you think that Messi is a normal player, it’s a huge mistake. It means you haven’t seen him for the last 15 years. If Sergio (Busquets) has the ball and you don’t mark Messi ... maybe you don’t have a TV at home. I expect a little bit more pressure from the other teams. The last game seemed like less than a friendly.”
Messi's Inter Miami will next play FC Dallas in the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup. The buzz surrounding Messi's first away game for the American club is high and tickets for the game have been sold within 10 minutes.