Thuram explains why he gave away Messi’s boots | OneFootball

Inter striker Marcus Thuram was lucky enough to meet Lionel Messi in person when he was a kid and receive his boots as a present, but he revealed to have given them away to make one of his teammates happy.

The 27-year-old was born in Parma, where his father Lilian Thuram was playing in 1997 before moving to Juventus and eventually to Barcelona, crossing paths with the Argentinean star.

The opportunity came when the then 11-year-old kid followed his father and went to train for the Blaugrana, only to realise he hadn’t taken the boots with him. Messi then agreed to give Marcus his pair, which would turn out to be valuable memorabilia as that young Barcelona forward went on to establish himself as the best player in the world.

MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 06: Nicolo Barella of FC Internazionale celebrates scoring his team’s second goal from the penalty spot with teammates Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Parma at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on December 06, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Thuram gave away Messi’s boots: Just ‘one of my dad’s teammates’

“I had gone to training and had left my boots at home, and the player whose shoe size was closest to mine was Lionel Messi,” the Frenchman recalled in an interview with UEFA, as quoted by Fcinternews.

“At that time, Messi was already the incredible player he still is, but for me, as just a kid, he was one of my dad’s teammates who lent me a pair of boots to go train.”

France’s forward Marcus Thuram (C) struggles for the ball with Italy’s defenders Giovanni Di Lorenzo (R) and Alessandro Bastoni during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Italy and France at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, Italy, 17 November 2024. EPA-EFE/DANIEL DAL ZENNARO

This is why the Inter star didn’t hesitate much to give away the boots when one of his close friends and a teammate at Olympique de Neuilly, where he used to play back then, ‘went crazy’ at seeing the present he had received.

“I saw the reaction of one of my best friends back then,” he explained.

“He literally went crazy when he saw the boots, so I told him, ‘If you like them so much, you can keep them.’ And I gave them to him.”