Cesc Fàbregas Shares Amazing Story About Meeting 13 Year Old Lionel Messi for the First Time in Training

• Cesc Fàbregas met Lionel Messi when they were both youngsters in Barcelona's famed academy
• Messi signed for Barcelona when he was just 13 years old and moved from Argentina to play in Spain
• Fàbregas described Messi as being very shy but very speedy and admitted that he was amazed by his ability

Lionel Messi went from a shy youngster who didn’t talk much to one of the greatest footballers of all time.

That’s how Messi’s friend and former teammate, Cesc Fàbregas describes the rise of the Argentinian superstar.

The duo met when Messi attended his first training session at just 13 years old. Fàbregas and Messi were born a few months apart and became good friends at Barcelona's academy. They remained good friends even after Fàbregas left to join Arsenal.

Fàbregas was reflecting on his time playing alongside Messi at Barcelona and recently shared the story of when they first met, Give Me Sport reported.

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"He was a very small kid, he didn't speak, he was very, very shy," Fabregas recalled.

Messi was very quick

Fabregas also remembered how Messi amazed him during one of the first training sessions. Fabregas was playing as a defensive midfielder tasked with stopping Messi from scoring, and he assumed he would have it easy against this smaller kid.

“I saw that he was coming with speed and that was not normal. He was coming very fast at me. I was shocked because I was already on the floor and he scored the goal,” Fabregas added.

The former Arsenal man said that they realised Messi was a special talent who would make it big at that stage.

No one knew just how big he would become, though. As noted by Transfermarkt, Messi went on to play 778 games for the Catalan side, scoring 672 goals and providing 303 assists. He’s become one of the greatest players of all time and has won seven Ballon d’Or awards.

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Lionel Messi: Argentinian superstar signed 1st professional contract with Barcelona on a napkin

Lionel Messi is a legend in football, especially at his former side, Barcelona.

The Argentinian superstar spent 20 successful years at the club and cemented his place as one of the greatest players in the world.

While much is known about Messi’s legendary career, the story of his signing for the Spanish side is something that is often forgotten, Sports Brief earlier reported.