Kevin-Prince Boateng has incredibly claimed he was forced by Barcelona to say that Lionel Messi was better than Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 36-year-old, who spent the second half of the 2018/19 season on loan at the Camp Nou, has insisted he was told to lie in order to play for the Blaugrana.
And Boateng, who made just three LaLiga appearances in Barca's title-winning campaign, has declared his false view was 'one of the biggest lies of my life'.
That is because boyhood Real Madrid fan Boateng believed that Cristiano Ronaldo was ahead of Messi at the time.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand on his VIBE YouTube channel, the ex-Tottenham midfielder said: "I remember that when I arrived in Barcelona they immediately asked me who the best player in the world was.
"I had to say it was Lionel Messi, I lied. It was one of the biggest lies of my life.
"Normally I always tell the truth, but I lied because it was the only way to wear the Barcelona shirt.
"I’m sorry for the Barca fans, but I always supported Real Madrid when I was a teenager.
"I love Cristiano Ronaldo. But they told me I had to say that, otherwise I wouldn't play."
Boateng, who was an FA Cup finalist with Portsmouth and Serie A title while at AC Milan, also revealed that Messi took interest in Ronaldo's time at Juventus.
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Having played for Sassuolo and Fiorentina along with Milan in Italy, the former Ghana international only talked up Ronaldo's goalscoring prowess.
He remarked: "He [Messi] is the captain but doesn't speak.
"We spoke one time in the shower because he asked if it's difficult to score in Italy because Ronaldo was there at that time, and he showed the rivalry between them.
"I told him that it was more difficult that Ronaldo was there, and he scored every game for three years.
"People forget too easily what he's done there."
Ronaldo spent three years in Turin, where he scored 101 goals in 134 matches for the Old Lady in all competitions.
In the same period from between 2018-2021, Messi banged in 120 goals in 141 outings for Barcelona.
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