Lionel Messi is probably the greatest footballer to have ever lived. Some will argue Pele, Diego Maradona or Cristiano Ronaldo are his equals – or perhaps even better.

Whatever the personal stance, the Argentine has undoubtedly summited the highest peaks of the sport. Indeed, he is a record eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, captained his nation to World Cup glory, and won every trophy on offer during his imperious spell with Barcelona.

However, he was not born into greatness. Like almost all athletes, he started out with little more than a passion for his chosen sport. With that in mind, it is fascinating to ponder which football inspired Messi when he was a youngster.

Thankfully, he has given an answer. When speaking to fellow football icon Zinedine Zidane, Messi revealed he had two idols. Maradona and Pablo Aimar:

"He [Aimar] was a player whom I always liked the way he played, and he was in River, which had a great team, and he stood out a lot. And going back to what we were saying before, apart from Diego [Maradona], who was something else – for us, he also comes first and then the rest – Pablo was the person I admired as a player. I liked him a lot..."

Messi would probably not be allowed back into Argentina if he forgot to mention Maradona, who truly was 'something else'. The pair worked together for around two years when the Napoli icon was national team coach from 2008 until 2010 – when Argentina crashed out of the World Cup after Germany beat them 4-0 in the quarter-finals.