“He got on the steroids and all that” - Joey Barton raises question mark over Lionel Messi’s career with controversial claim

Joey Barton has controvertially claimed that Lionel Messi has a asterisk next to his name because of the drugs he used in his childhood. He added that the Argentine was genetically modified and thus cannot be compared with others.

Speaking on his Common Sense Podcast, Barton stated that Messi needed growth hormones, unlike other footballers, and thus got an advantage with the steroids. He is unwilling to give the Inter Miami star full credits for the achivements and said:

"He's asterisk though for me. There's a big asterisk on Messi's name for me, because he got on the steroids and all that at young age to mess with his growth. Messi's been genetically modified at a young age, so there has to be an asterisk next to his name."

He added:

"He was given growth hormone and all kinds of medications to help him grow. As far as I know no one else has done that. So, if you'd have left him grow naturally and left him on the roast dinners - or whatever - he wouldn't have been big enough to end up what he's ended up doing."

Lionel Messi had growth hormone shortage and needed medicine to cure the disease. He underwent treatment for 2 years, which cost $900 per month, and that was paid for by Barcelona.

Joey Barton previously claimed Lionel Messi was better than Cristiano Ronaldo

Joey Barton was not pleased with claims from Cristiano Ronaldo about being the best in the history of football. The Englishman took to Twitter in 2017 and claimed that the Portuguese star was not the best in his era, let alone the history of the game.

He wrote:

"I agree. He has done incredible things but is he the best player ever in the history of the game? I don’t think he’s even the best in his era. For me Lionel Messi is still ahead."

The tweet came just hours after Ronaldo's speech at the Ballon d'Or ceremony when he said:

"I don't see anyone better than me. No player does things that I cannot do myself, but I see things others can't do. There's no more complete player than me. I'm the best player in history - in the good and the bad moments."

Cristiano Ronaldo has not won the France Football award since, while Lionel Messi has won it three more times to take a 8-5 lead in their race.