A surreal and humorous scene unfolded behind the scenes at the Champions League. During a clash between Manchester City and PSG, Jack Grealish found himself face to face with his idol, Lionel Messi, for the very first time. Impressed but true to his spontaneous nature, the England international took a chance and approached the Argentinian at halftime.

His goal? To convince the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner to join the Skyblues ... for a most unusual reason!

"Please come, Guardiola is always yelling at us!"

Taking advantage of a chance encounter in the corridors, Grealish broke the ice with great lightness by mentioning the close relationship between Pep Guardiola and his former protégé from FC Barcelona.

"I told him, 'Hello Messi, Guardiola likes you a lot.' He started laughing. So I continued, 'Please play with us at City, because Guardiola is always yelling at us, saying 'Messi did this, Messi did that.' If you come, he won't get angry with us anymore!'"

A humorous request that hides a true reality: the eternal admiration that the Catalan coach has for the Argentinian genius, often held up as the ultimate example in front of his own players.

Messi's response

Faced with this completely unexpected outburst, the Parisian star at the time didn't hide his amusement. Far from the cold image sometimes attributed to him, Lionel Messi reacted with class and kindness.

"He smiled and said to me, 'I understand what you said.' We shook hands and he left," Grealish recounts.

A short reply, a smile, and a handshake were all it took to make this moment unforgettable for the English midfielder. Shared on social media, this juicy anecdote quickly went viral and delighted football fans.