Adidas have hit back at suggestions that the company were worried about Lionel Messi’s shy personality when they began their sponsorship of the former Barcelona star.
Messi has become synonymous with Adidas, having worn their boots since 2006, but he actually began his football career as a Nike-sponsored athlete. The Paris Saint-Germain playmaker was spotted early on by Nike, who had Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on their books together for three years.
As the 2006 World Cup approached, Nike had two of the most exciting young players in football before Messi made the switch to rivals Adidas. A new book entitled ‘Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World’s Game’, by Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson, claims Messi left Nike over a ‘trivial issue’.
