The Argentine, 35, won six Player of the Season awards during his 17 years in the Barcelona first team.
5Lionel Messi gifted Leandro Paredes his LaLiga Player of the Season awardCredit:
5Paredes talked fans through his trophy cabinetCredit: Twitter
5He showed off the award Messi had given himCredit: Twitter
5It clearly read ‘Lionel Messi’ on the sideCredit: Twitter
5Fans love the fact that Messi has allowed Paredes to own his awardCredit: Twitter
He has also claimed dozens of other individual accolades including seven Ballon d’Ors and two World Cup Golden Ball awards.
And the limited space on his mantlepiece led to him give his 2020/21 LaLiga Player of the Season trophy away to Paredes.
Argentine international Paredes, 28, who is now on loan at Juventus from PSG, was showing off the various trophies on display in his house.
And after speaking about a few of his match balls, he picked out the award Messi had given to him.
It says “Player of the Season” on one side and “Lionel Messi” on the other.
Speaking about how he came to own it, Paredes said: “He [Messi] arrived in Paris, I asked him if he would give it to me and he gave it to me.”
And football fans are loving the fact that Messi gave the award to Paredes.
Reacting on social media, one person said: “This Argentina team man. They are really like one big family. All the players worship Messi on a level never seen before. What an influential figure.”
Another added: “I have seen footballers giving away jerseys, balls and boots to friends. But this dude out here is distributing awards.
“Imagine any other player giving away their player of the season awards. Nobody does it. They don’t have too, anyways.”
And a third replied: “This cracked me up 😀 The Argentina players are like siblings that ask for and get whatever they want from their older brother, Leo Messi.”
Messi won the World Cup alongside Paredes in December as Argentina triumphed in Qatar.
And PSG are closing in on the Ligue 1 title after beating Lens 3-1 to move eight points clear at the top of the table.
But Messi could be on his way out of the French capital this summer as he is being heavily linked with a return to Barcelona.
A lucrative £350-million-a-year move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal and an American switch to David Beckham’s Inter Miami are also on the table for the South American icon.
source: thesun.co.uk
