Footballers and their childhood idols, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Paul Pogba’s heroes

Footballers and their childhood idols, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Paul Pogba’s heroes
When Matt Le Tissier found out Barcelona iconXavi looked up to him as a child, the Southampton legend had a t-shirt specially, which read: ‘Xaviloves me’.The admiration stems from a Spanish television show dedicated to the weekend’s best Premier League goals shownevery Monday and, naturally, featured Le Tissier on a regular basis.“I’m talking outrageous, sickening goals,” Xavi said of the finishes.

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REVEALED: Footballers who played for their boyhood club’s rivals

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Here, talkSPORT.com looks at other footballers and their biggest childhood idols, including Lionel Messi’s hero, the influence of Tottenham on Dennis Bergkamp and who Cristiano Ronaldo looks up to.You can even find out which Premier League legend’s shirt Dimitar Berbatov slept in. 18

1. Xavi loved Matt Le Tissier scroll through the gallery to see other footballers and their biggest idols – Xavi revealed his household was "obsessed" with Southampton legend Le Tissier when the former Barca midfielder was growing up in Spain.

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2. Sergio Aguero was a huge admirer of Liverpool striker Michael Owen – In his autobiography, Aguero wrote: "City fans might not want to hear it, but when I was a kid I wanted to be Owen. I've always liked Liverpool."

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3. David Beckham's hero was Man United midfielder Bryan Robson – Beckham followed in the footsteps of his boyhood hero by becoming England captain and a legendary Man United number seven.

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4. Lionel Messi liked Pablo Aimar – Aimar was a technically brilliant and skilful Argentina international, so it's little surprise Messi was, and still is, a big admirer.

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5&6. Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic really liked Ronaldo – Ibrahimovic, who has played for Juventus, Man United and Barcelona, once said there "will never be a better player than [Ronaldo]" and Benzema credits the former Brazil and Real Madrid ace as the one who influenced his playing style most.

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7. Dimitar Berbatov looked up to Alan Shearer – Berbatov grew up worshiping the Premier League legend. At first I supported Blackburn because Shearer was there, then Newcastle. My parents got me a Newcastle no.9 shirt because they knew I loved Shearer so much. I would sleep in it. Later I lost it, but I went to see my mum recently and she had a shirt for me. I said, What the f**k? Thats my Newcastle shirt! I was so happy to see it again, he told Four Four Two mag.

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8. Dennis Bergkamp loved watching Glenn Hoddle play for Tottenham – The Arsenal legend grew up inspired by the Spurs great, but has rubbished rumours he was a Tottenham fan.

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9&10. Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta both idolised Pep Guardiola – Both midfielders operate in the same position Guardiola did and model their style on the creative Spaniard.

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11&12. Eden Hazard and Mario Gotze idolised Zinedine Zidane – Both players have been inspired by Zidane since childhood, enthralled by his composure on the ball and elegant playing style.

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13. Carlos Valderrama was an idol to James Rodriguez – Many Colombians see Rodriguez as Valderrama's natural successor as the country's football hero.

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14. Thierry Henry was an idol of Robert Lewandowski's – Goal scorers learn from the best and Lewandowski closely studied Henry during the striker's time at Arsenal where he scored 228 goals.

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15. Manuel Neuer really liked Jens Lehmann – Neuer had plenty of great goalkeepers to follow in his youth, but claims ex-Arsenal no.1 Lehmann was his favourite. "First of all he played for Schalke and I was always impressed by his way of playing and his charisma. He is an attacking goalkeeper. I used to come early to home games when I was little to watch Jens warm-up. He was quite innovative and he did exercises during warm-ups that I hadn't seen anyone else do before."

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16&17. Oscar and Paul Pogba both idolised Kaka – Both midfielders harboured dreams of playing at the highest level in Europe, just as Kaka did. The Brazilian won the Ballon d'Or in 2007 while playing for Italian club Milan. Both midfielders harboured dreams of playing at the highest level in Europe, just as Kaka did. The Brazilian won the Ballon d'Or in 2007 while playing for Italian club Milan. Oscar earned a transfer to Chelsea in 2012 before deciding to leave for the Chinese Super League in 2017, while Pogba won the World Cup with France and became the most expensive player in the world when Man United paid Juve 89m for him in 2016. I had videos of Maradona, Pele, Chris Waddle, Kaka many players. I wanted to have all the virtues of those players," he said.

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18. Marco Reus' football idol was Tomas Rosicky – Reus admired the Dortmund midfielder so much he copied everything about him "right down to his sweatbands."

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19. Wayne Rooney was a big fan of Goodison favourite Duncan Ferguson – Everton fan Rooney has always said Ferguson was his childhood hero. As a child he had posters of him on his bedroom wall.

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20. Luis Suarez was a fan of Gabriel Batistuta – Suarez has described Batistuta as the "ultimate" striker and closely studied his playing style to better his own performances.

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21. Fernando Torres' idol was Kiko – Kiko spent most of his career at Atletico Madrid, so the striker was a natural idol to the young Torres, who began his professional career at the club and took over his mantle as club icon.

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22. Cristiano Ronaldo had no particular idol – When Ronaldo was asked to name the person who had influenced him most, he said he had no specific idols and instead motivated himself to be the best.

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Aaron Ramsey leaving Arsenal on a free is CRIMINAL especially since the club struggle to attract the world's best players, according to Jeremie Aliadiere Thursday, 21 March 2019 Jérémie Aliadière has slammed Arsenal for allowing Aaron Ramsey to leave on a free because they struggle to attract the best players in the world.
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Neymar rejects Real Madrid move as Brazilian tells Paris Saint-Germain it's 'Barcelona or nothing' Neymar has been linked with moves to Real Madrid and Barcelona this summer
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Sadio Mane overtakes Steven Gerrard to set new all-time goalscoring record for Liverpool in UEFA Champions League -A A+ Sadio Mane has been on fire for Liverpool off late both domestically and in continental competitions and have scored 10 goals from his last 10 games for the Reds.
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It has been reported that knee problems appeared in the medical, forcing Liverpool into rethinking the transfer. Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich have also been linked with a move for Klopp's target. Related articles. Nabil Fekir to Liverpool: Transfer 'back on' as huge decision made as Lyon collapse
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Manchester United 'agree' £86m huge striker deal as Liverpool transfer deal could see them 'on top for ten years' and Arsenal and United chase Real Madrid star - Premier League rumours
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Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino handled his side "like a rookie manager" in their Champions League final defeat against Liverpool, according to former Republic of Ireland international Tony
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Nike have reportedly bring back Barcelona 90s-inspired jersey worn by Rivaldo, Figo and Guardiola for El-Clasico with Real Madrid. Rivaldo was the star at the Camp Nou in the 90s [Getty Images]
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Andres Iniesta issues apology after controversial 'blacked up' photos on his Instagram and Twitter pages Posted on March 1, 2019 Andres Iniesta has apologised after being caught up in a race row after posing alongside two 'blacked up' characters.
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Jamie Vardy appeared to swear behind Claude Puel's back after seeing the Leicester City boss chatting with Paul Pogba at the final whistle at the King Power Stadium. England international Marcus Rashford scored his eighth goal in 13 outings to earn a 1-0 victory at the King Power Stadium for Manchester United.
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