Man United’s star narrates hilarious story of how Messi almost denied giving him his shirt

- McTominay had to ask Romero to defend him to Messi back in 2019

- The midfielder really wanted Messi’s shirt but the Argentine was unwilling to give it to him due to a hilarious case of mistaken identity

- During Man United’s game against Barca, Chris Smalling elbowed Messi but the 33-year old thought it was McTominay

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Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay recently gave a hilarious account of how he nearly missed out on getting Lionel Messi’s shirt back in 2019.

Messi, arguably the best player among all generations, last faced off against Manchester United in the Champions League and there was a hilarious sub plot in that tie.

Manchester United set up a quarter final clash against Barcelona two years ago when they famously came from behind in the previous round to knock out a star-studded PSG side on away goals.

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In the clash against Barcelona, many of the young United players were facing Messi for the first time and McTominay was one of them.

After the match, McTominay, who was 23 at the time, wanted to get Messi’s shirt but there was a small hurdle.

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The Argentine maestro thought McTominay was the one who elbowed him to the point of nose bleeding and was adamant he would not trade shirts with him.

The midfielder had to request Sergio Romero to make it clear to Messi that it was actually Chris Smalling who was involved in the elbowing.

McTominay said:

"So, whenever we played against him for Barcelona [in 2019], Chris Smalling elbowed him and he's got blood coming out of his nose. And he thought it was me.

"Because I said to Sergio Romero, 'please can you ask Messi to get his shirt?'.

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"Sergio comes back in and said, 'Oh, he thinks you were the one who elbowed him on the halfway line'. I said, 'No, no, no, no - tell him it wasn't me, so make sure I get that shirt because that's going in my bedroom'. So he knows it wasn't me now.

"Sorry Chrissy, but he was the one who roughed him up a bit."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Paul Pogba could finally leave Manchester United at the end of the season, according to reports in Italy, cited on Mirror.

The France international's contract at Old Trafford is set to expire in the summer of 2022 and it has been suggested that United should sell rather than keep him till next season.

According to Italian news publication Tuttosport, Pogba's romance at the Theatre of Dreams will be favourable to both club and player.