Ronaldinho subjected to a lot of Lionel Messi ‘jokes’ at Barcelona – with player ‘touched by God’ rising up to inherit Brazilian’s crown at Camp Nou

Some 20 years ago, back in October 2004, Messi made his competitive debut for the Blaugrana. Few could have predicted what was to come at that point, with the Argentine playmaker going on to become Barca’s all-time leading goalscorer and the most decorated performer of all-time.

Messi has eight Ballons d’Or and a World Cup triumph to his name, standing among the immortals with a remarkable career taking him from humble beginnings to the very top of the global game – eclipsing the efforts of several other superstars along the way.

Former Barca team-mate Deco, who was replaced by Messi when the South American made his senior bow, has told SPORT of seeing a torch passed on at Camp Nou: "There are players who are touched by God and you see this from the beginning. It’s something different. We made a lot of jokes with Ronnie [Ronaldinho]. We told him that he would be Barca’s number 10 and that we would be watching him from the outside. We knew that he had the capacity to be something very big, but imagining everything he would do was impossible."

Deco – who also played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo for the Portugal national team – added on Messi breaking the mould: "Technically, Ronaldinho is the best player I’ve ever seen. In the ability to compete and generate danger, however, I have never seen one like Messi. It is something that cannot be explained. It’s something different, which doesn’t happen many times."

Messi registered 672 goals for Barcelona through 778 appearances, winning 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns. He is still going strong at the age of 37, with Argentina and MLS side Inter Miami, and hopes to have several more years left in him before a day comes to hang up record-breaking boots.