'Do they even watch football?!' Fans BEMUSED as Barcelona wax museum rolls out UNCONVINCING Lionel Messi waxwork

Football fans have questioned if the designers of a new wax figure honoring Lionel Messi are aware what the Barcelona icon looks like after several took to social media to say that the exhibit doesn't resemble the Barca star.

The figure shows Messi wearing Barcelona's home strip and pointing his fingers to the sky and smiling as if celebrating a goal, but the Argentine skipper might not echo his inanimate doppleganger's enthusiasm when he lays eyes on the waxwork, after a wave of criticism appeared online as the pictures went viral. 

While it isn't quite as other-worldly looking as the infamous Ronaldo bronze statue from a couple of years back, Messi's figure was roundingly criticized, with many saying that the figure more resembled Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi and even Hollywood actor Sam Rockwell.

"Looks like the Poundland version," one fan joked, while another took a shot at the figures designers by sarcastically noting that they "should’ve done one that looked like him instead."

A third fan suggested that Barcelona may be better off fielding the waxwork than the real thing, with Messi apparently becoming the target of Barca boo boys for several underwhelming performances for the Spanish giants this season. 

Messi is the latest addition to the city's wax museum which already featuring wax figures of several other sporting icons like Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso. 

According to recent reports, Messi's exhibit may might be the only physical representation of the Argentine star in the city before long after he was linked in the press with a move to French side Paris Saint-Germain at the conclusion of this season. 

Messi, as was reported heavily in August, attempted to engineer a move away from the Camp Nou prior to the start of this season but was ultimately convinced to stay by the Barca hierarchy.

The rumors are poised to begin in earnest once again in the new year, and the Barca faithful will be hopeful that the new centerpiece in the city's wax museum won't become a monument, or a painful reminder, of their most famous player as he begins a new era in the French capital.