After having a rather "cold" run-in with Cristiano Ronaldo last year, former English footballer Jamie Carragher has now seemingly "irked" Argentine star Lionel Messi as well.
Despite choosing the Inter Miami forward over the Al Nassr striker, Carragher — known for his "not so held back" attitude when it comes to expressing his opinions — has managed to offend the ex-Barcelona player.
Speaking during the most recent Champions League broadcast on CBS, it was disclosed that Inter Miami forward Messi had been invited to appear on the programme, but had turned it down due to a specific individual.
During the show, host Kate Abdo revealed that Messi refused to feature in a show that "Carragher is a part of," reported mirror.co.uk.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner and the former Liverpool defender have previously had a run-in. When the latter — while giving a speech in September — was asked if he had ever heard from Messi, which astonishingly he had but wasn't sure about what the Inter Miami star had said.
“Yes. Is it Spanish that they speak, Argentinians? I’m just going to say the word he called me, I don’t understand, a ‘burro’. What does that mean?” Carragher said on the CBS.
However, host Abdo, was quick to translate and much to Carragher's woes revealed that the Argentine forward had called him a "donkey".
Messi is not the only star footballer Caraggher has "crossed", as last year he was snubbed by Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
In August 2022, prior to Manchester United's clash with the Reds — with Caragger part of the Sky Sports' broadcasting team — Ronaldo chose to greet Roy Keane and Gary Neville but gave a "cold shoulder" to Carragher.
A few months later, the Al Nassr star did the same to Neville prompting Carragher to take to social media to respond.
"Welcome to the, blanked by Ronaldo club GNev2," he wrote on microblogging platform X.
Despite Messi's harsh remarks, Carragher prefers the former Barcelona forward over the Portuguese star.
"It was never a debate. Ronaldo's nowhere near the level of Messi [...] Ronaldo is one of the greatest goalscorers of all time [whereas] Messi is the greatest player of all time, it's not even close. Ronaldo scored goals, Messi scored goals and was an unbelievable player," Carragher said.