Former Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng has admitted to making a false claim about Lionel Messi being the best player in the world, choosing the Argentine over Cristiano Ronaldo, solely to secure his place at Barcelona.
Boateng, who had a loan spell with Barcelona during the 2018/19 season, recently discussed this strategic decision on the FIVE UK podcast.
Boateng's initial endorsement of Messi as the world's best player happened just before his move to the Catalan club and was widely reported at the time. In an interview with SPOX (via Marca) in 2018, he had praised Messi, saying, “Ronaldo makes all of this happen in this world, but only in this world. In what transcends this world, the best is Messi, because he is incredible, he does things that nobody can do. I do not see him in this world. Ronaldo dominates this world and Messi is above everything else.”
However, Boateng now admits that his statement was not genuine but rather a strategic move to secure his place at Barcelona. During the FIVE UK podcast, he candidly stated, “They asked who was the best player in the world, and I said Messi. This one is one of the biggest lies. I usually always say the truth, but this time I had to lie to wear the Barcelona shirt at the Camp Nou.”
Kevin Prince Boateng 🇬🇭 says he was forced to lie about Messi being the Best Player in world. 🙄pic.twitter.com/idfnXMgnkt
— Ibrahim Sannie Daara (@SannieDaara) October 3, 2023