Lionel Messi Insists He'd Happily Have Dinner With Cristiano Ronaldo But Denies They Are Friends
Lionel Messi has confirmed he would take up a dinner invitation from Cristiano Ronaldo before also explaining that they are not friends.
The Portugal international recently revealed he was eager to sit down and chat with his competitor over some food, though no formal offer has been made. The pair have amassed five Ballons d'Or each, dominating the last decade of football as they led fierce foes Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.
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Discussing Ronaldo's comments regarding dinner, Messi told Sport: "I don’t have any problem with that. I’ve always said that I don’t have any issue with him.
"We might not be friends because we’ve never shared a dressing room together, but I always see him at award shows and there’s no problem. We actually spoke with each other for quite a long time at the most recent show.
"I don’t know if there will be a dinner because I don’t know if our paths will cross for obvious reasons, each one of us has our own life and our own commitments. But obviously I would accept the invitation."
Both players were the subject of transfer speculation during the summer, with Messi using the interview to state his desire to remain at Camp Nou for the foreseeable future.
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The 32-year-old also answered questions about Neymar and the latter's potential return to Catalonia. The Blaugrana captain admitted he would have 'loved' for his old teammate to rejoin the club, but was unable to reveal details about why a deal never materialised.
