Lionel Messi spotted completely blanking Man City youngster who is left looking deflated

Posted Sunday, June 18, 2023 by Dailystar.co.uk

New video footage has shown Lionel Messi blanking Manchester City youngster Alexander Robertson.

Robertson, 20, found himself snubbed by the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner following Australia's 2-0 friendly defeat against the world champions. It comes just months after a brave 2-1 defeat in the World Cup round of 16 – with Messi scoring the opener in both of those games.

The City academy starlet was making just his second international appearance but he wasn't able to grab the greatest memento of them all as the Inter Miami-bound superstar blatantly snubbed any handshake or interaction with Robertson.

Footage from full-time showed Robertson grabbing the back of Messi's shirt as he shook hands with his Argentine teammates.

Robertson then continued to follow Messi who briefly turned to look in Robertson's direction before continuing to walk away from him, seeing the Aussie left hanging and smirking in the direction of Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho in embarrassment.

The 20-year-old eventually conceded defeat after one last attempt to speak to Messi before he headed away with the rest of his Socceroo teammates.

It seems that Robertson ultimately lost out to J League 2 side Machida Zelvia's striker Mitchell Duke, who returned to the dressing room after giving a urine sample to see Messi's shirt waiting for him.

Robertson spent the 2022/23 season playing for City's U23 side where he featured in 18 Premier League 2 games – scoring five goals as predominately a centre midfielder although he can feature in either defensive or attacking engine room roles.

Despite being yet to make a senior debut for City, Robertson featured as an unused substitute in the final two games of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford. Previously making just five appearances in a brief loan spell at Ross County as his senior career at club level is yet to take shape.

Robertson previously played for England at youth level after moving to the country in 2015 when he joined Manchester United, later arriving at the Etihad two years later.