Lionel Messi debuted at Barcelona when he was 16 and the Argentine already showed flashes of a remarkably talented footballer. The Barca team captain has achieved superstardom and is widely considered the greatest in his field, which a former teammate said were not seen in Messi's early days.
According to Cristian Hidalgo, who was with Messi's first year as part of the Camp Nou first-team, he knew that the Argentine would be a winner but becoming GOAT was then unimaginable. Hidalgo thought that the young Messi will make a name in football but the being best was hard to picture then.
"Nobody could have foreseen that. Leo's accomplishments are unique. He was very shy, very introverted. He actually only spoke when it was necessary. As he played more and started scoring goals, he thawed a little and joked around more," the former Barca winger told Goal.
Eventually, the young attacker blossomed and it seemed there is no limit to what he can achieve. With Barcelona, Messi worked to win domestic and regional titles. He boasts of multiple Champions League honors, considered by players in Europe as the ultimate prize of campaigning in the continent.
But the most incredible achievement by Messi is capturing the Ballon d'Or award and he has six, which underpinned the perception by many in football that the Argentina captain is easily the greatest of all time.
Looking at the level of success garnered by his former teammate, Hidalgo said he had no clue when they were just starting out that Messi will have a great impact on the pitch.
"Leo was an incredible talent. Everyone in the club knew that he would one day be a very good player ... But the best ever? No," Hidalgo said.
To be clear though, the Argentine's football journey still lacks a world title. Messi has admitted that the elusive World Cup will indeed make him happy but he also made clear that without such glory will not diminish his achievements.
And fellow Argentine Hernan Crespo agrees that even without a World Cup win, Messi will go down in history as one of the greats in football if not the greatest.
However, Crespo admitted that he would love to see his superstar compatriot lifting the same trophy that other football greats, such as Pele and Diego Maradona, have lifted before him.
"It makes me happy to see him play in the national team, I would love, as an Argentine also, to see him become world champion ... We are Argentines and we want him to be world champion, I want him it all my heart, but he goes beyond a title and he will not stop being immense," Barca Blaugranes reported the Argentina international as saying.
The next World Cup will be hosted by Qatar in 2022 but Messi, who has stated that he's now semi-retired in international competitions, playing for the country is a big question mark.
