Lionel Messi may be an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, a World Cup champion and the highest-paid player in MLS, but he’s ‘just one of the guys’ at Inter Miami according to new teammate Julian Gressel.
Speaking on his ‘PLAYER/MANAGER’ podcast with Zealand, Gressel praised Messi for his humility – while admitting he sometimes finds himself in awe of the Argentine.
‘He makes you feel comfortable, he makes you feel part of the team, and it’s certainly cool to see how he’s just one of the guys, one the teammates – that wants the best for the team, that wants to win,’ Gressel said.
Gressel was just feet away from Messi when he outrageously dinked the ball over a Real Salt Lake player in the first game of the season, and said his teammate produces something ‘every day’ in training that makes him say ‘wow.’
Lionel Messi is ‘just one of the guys’ in the Inter Miami locker room, says Julian Gressel
Gressel (back right) joined Inter Miami this offseason after winning MLS Cup with Columbus
Of the moment vs. RSL, Gressel said, ‘To be two yards away from him, it was just, ‘Oh my God.”
Still, the veteran midfielder seems to be adjusting to life playing alongside Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba.
‘In the beginning when I first met them and stuff, you have to worry about not falling too much into these awe moments, and actually being like, ‘OK, you’re actually a teammate, you gotta kind of play and be there and do the work.’
‘It didn’t take me too long to kinda shake it out, shake it off and keep going.’
Gressel also shared in the podcast that Messi has started speaking to him in English – which he does not do publicly.
Gressel praised the likes of Messi, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets for their humility
‘There was one moment in Saudi, I forget which game it was but maybe the first game, against Al Hilal and he came over to me and spoke to me in English. It was the first time he spoke to me in English.
‘During the game he covers his mouth because there are always a billion cameras on him. He covers his mouth and says ‘now, we change. You stay and Jordi (Alba) runs, Jordi goes more in behind’. I was just like ‘yes, ok – sounds good!’.
‘The funny part was after, he goes ‘English, pretty good, no?’. I was like ‘yes, very very good! I understood everything!’.
The Herons have four points through their first two games and will host Orlando City this weekend.
Messi notched his first goal of the season last weekend vs. the LA Galaxy, as he salvaged a draw for his side.
