Barcelona feared for Lionel Messi's future due to influence of 'party animal' Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho was at the peak of his powers when he arrived at Camp Nou from PSG after a successful outing in the FIFA World Cup in 2002. The Brazilian settled in relatively quickly at Barcelona and even went on to win the Ballon d'Or while playing in LaLiga in 2005. However, after winning the award, Ronaldinho very famously said that even though this award meant he's the best player in the world, he did not consider himself as the best player at Barcelona due to the presence of a certain Lionel Messi in the squad. Close to 15 years down the line, Lionel Messi fulfilled Ronaldinho's prophecy but things could have gone differently for Messi had he followed in the footsteps of the 'Ronaldinho lifestyle'.

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Barcelona feared for Lionel Messi's future due to influence of party animal Ronaldinho

Reports in Dailymail claim that Barcelona officials feared for Messi's future due to the presence of Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho, who made 145 appearances for Barcelona and scored 70 goals, was known for his lavish lifestyle. However, Lionel Messi was the total opposite and kept to his own schedule while playing alongside the Brazilian on the field. Messi later went on to fill the void left by Ronaldinho's departure from Barcelona in 2008 for AC Milan.

Frank Rijkaard was in charge of Barcelona during Ronaldinho's tenure in Spain and allowed the South American star certain 'indulgences'. However, reports state that towards the latter half of his career at Camp Nou, "Ronaldinho spent many of his evening at the bars of Castelldefels, the elegant beachside suburb south of Barcelona". It was at this time that fears of Lionel Messi following in Ronaldinho's footsteps began to emerge in 2008. However, all of those doubts were put to rest with the arrival of Pep Guardiola, who helped Lionel Messi and the rest of the Barcelona squad reach new heights and establish themselves as one of the greatest football teams of all time.

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