Former Barcelona star Kevin-Prince Boateng has opened up about the huge influence Lionel Messi held at Barcelona.

Messi played for FC Barcelona for 17 seasons, from 2004 to 2021. During that time, his influence within the club grew alongside his reputation as a player, giving him significant decision-making power over certain aspects of the team, according to a former player.

Speaking with a podcast Unscripted, Boateng said he was close to signing when he found out Lionel Messi had a huge say in whether he joined.

According to the ex-Ghana international, Messi’s opinion was so important the deal couldn’t go ahead without it.

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“At the time, there were two sporting directors,” he said.

“One of them was Eric Abidal, and he said, ‘Yes, we want you.’ The other sporting director said, ‘We want you’. The president (Bartomeu) wanted me, the coach (Valverde) too, so I said, ‘Perfect, let’s sign tomorrow!’ They replied, ‘No, we have to talk to Leo first.’

“He had that power. I went to sleep hoping Messi would approve my signing. If he had refused, I wouldn’t have signed for Barcelona.”