The apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to the Messi family, as four-year-old Mateo Messi showed by copying his Ballon d'Or-winning father's traditional goal celebration in a newly-released video.
The eyes of football scouts across the globe will have had their heads turned by the talents of Lionel Messi's son after he was captured on video firing a ball into a goal and adopting his dad's hands-in-the-air celebration, all while wearing a Barcelona replica strip.
The youngster is the middle child in the Messi family with Thiago born three years prior. Messi, and his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, welcomed their third son Ciro in 2018.
Despite wearing the strip that his father has worn since he was a teenager in the video, which was shared by Messi's wife, Mateo's allegiances have been called into question in recent months after he was caught on camera celebrating goals scored against Barcelona by Real Betis and even chief rivals Real Madrid - the latter of which was apparently part of some sibling rivalry as he goaded older brother Thiago.
Nonetheless, if Mateo posses even 10 percent of the ability of his famous father he could end up being quite the productive player after another decade or so of training.
Oddly enough, Cristiano Ronaldo has a two-year-old son also called Mateo so the possibility exists to extend the famed Ronaldo/Messi rivalry into the next generation.
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