A video of Lionel Messi speaking English has been generated by artificial intelligence.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has admitted to having taken English lessons, in the past but cannot speak the language fluently and prefers to speak in Spanish.
In 2021, Messi told Guillem Balague that he had been learning English for "a year and a half".
However, with the power of AI, a video created what Messi would sound like if he was a fluent English speaker.
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The video sees Messi in a press conference, with the altered audio including the Inter Miami star starting off by saying: "Despite the unexpected nature of the situation, today we find ourselves in the final match. This game is for those who are unaware of our training and do not see our day-to-day efforts."
It even duped plenty of fans on social media, with many genuinely sure if it was actually Messi talking in English such is the scarily uncanny clip.
In May, however, fans did get to hear Messi did speak English for the first time - and for real.
The Barcelona legend appeared in a Bad Boys advert alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
He paid the acting duo a visit in the skit, turning up at their door and simply saying, "Bad boys" before they turned him away and directed him towards neighbours.
Yet despite his previous comments on speaking English, his Inter teammate Julian Gressel says he has heard Messi communicate in the language during a game in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking on his Player Manager podcast, the United States international said: “Between me and Leo we've had this running joke a little bit ever since the first few days.
“I asked him if he speaks any English and he was like 'no, not really, your Spanish is probably better than my English' There was one moment in Saudi, I forget which game it was but maybe the first game, against Al Hilal and he came over to me and spoke to me in English.
"It was the first time he spoke to me in English."
Topics: Football, Lionel Messi, England, Argentina, Fan Reactions
Josh Lawless