Lionel Messi has been giving his Inter Miami teammates tactical tips in English on the field – and his new teammate Julian Gressel hilariously revealed the Argentina star is proud with how quickly he is learning the language.
Messi has never spoken English publicly and gives interviews in Spanish but since arriving in the United States last July, has started learning the language.
Gressel, who joined Miami on a free transfer in Major League Soccer‘s offseason, opened up about having Messi as a teammate on his Player Manager podcast and it appears they have struck up a quick friendship.
‘Between me and Leo we’ve had this running joke a little bit ever since the the first few days,’ Gressel, who has played as a wing back for Miami, said. ‘I asked him if he speaks any English and he was like “no, not really, your Spanish is probably better than my English”.
‘There was one moment in Saudi, I forget which game it was but maybe the first game, against Al Hilal and he came over to me and spoke to me in English. It was the first time he spoke to me in English.
Lionel Messi has started giving his Inter Miami teammates tactical instructions in English
His new Miami teammate Julian Gressel made the revelation on a podcast appearance
Gressel also paid tribute to the influence Sergio Busquets has over the Miami team
‘During the game he covers his mouth because there are always a billion cameras on him. He covers his mouth and says ‘now, we change. You stay and Jordi (Alba) runs, Jordi goes more in behind’. I was just like ‘yes, ok – sounds good!’.
‘The funny part was after, he goes ‘English, pretty good, no?’. I was like ‘yes, very very good! I understood everything!’.
Gressel also revealed how much he has learned from playing alongside Sergio Busquets since he joined in January.
‘Playing alongside Busi, there are times he drops between the center backs and I would drop in as a six and we would pay off each other like that,’ Gressel said.
‘Ever since I walked into the club he is always giving me pointers, it is incredible. He is always giving me something I can take, I can get better from. He has so much knowledge about the game.
‘We always speak in English, he can get a point across and have conversations. We don’t just speak about…