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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Rangers news: Steven Gerrard wants three Liverpool youngsters to boost Scottish Premiership title bid next season Saturday, 27 April 2019 Rangers boss Steven Gerrard is hoping his former club Liverpool can do him some favours in the transfer market this summer.
Rangers news: Steven Gerrard wants Liverpool favour as he

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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be rewarded with a new Liverpool contract after overcoming his year-long injury hell. Just days after making his return from a year on the sidelines with a serious

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the three players unai emery must sign during arsenal summer transfer revolution #afc tv. former arsenal great nigel winterburn has instructed unai emery to sign three players in the summer transfer window. 5 poor arsenal players that unai emery made great. 5 players unai emery will be looking to sign for arsenal | by premier league news..
Arsenal - Transfer News - 1 February 2019 - atomicsoda.com
atomicsoda.com/arsenal/transfer-news/1-feb-2019/liverpool-v-arsenal
Arsenal boss Unai Emery reveals he has been promised cash to spend in the summer Metro - Mon Jan 28 11:35 PM Arsenal offered the chance to sign Napoli right-back Kevin Malcuit as cover for Hector Bellerin
Arsenal - Transfer News - 3 February 2019 - atomicsoda.com
atomicsoda.com/arsenal/transfer-news/3-feb-2019/liverpool-v-arsenal
We couldn't get the Champions League through the league, but this is another way, said Arsenal coach Unai Emery.Our objective is clearly to go to the Champions League but also this is a trophy.
Alexandre Lacazette Archives - Daily Cannon
dailycannon.com/tag/alexandre-lacazette/
Unai Emery has brought new life to Arsenal. Unai Emery thinks Alexandre Lacazette needs to go one step further in adapting to the rhythm of the Premier League, but the boss is clearly

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Transfer news and football gossip: Eden Hazard hints at

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The six-man shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year was announced on Saturday and fans were left surprised by the absence of one Tottenham Hotspur man. While the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all saw players nominated, Spurs were overlooked - and the fact that Son Heung-Min was overlooked
Matthew Upson Insists 'Outstanding' Son Heung-min Deserved

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Allegri's last game in charge of Juventus ended in a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Sampdoria on Sunday courtesy of late goals from Gregoire Defrel and Gianluca Caprari. The 51-year-old head coach has been linked with a number of jobs around Europe - including Chelsea and Bayern Munich - but Allegri said he will not rush into his next move and
Juventus: 'I will choose a team I like' -Massimiliano Allegri

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MORE STORIES 'One day his confidence levels will be back to normal': Jose Mourinho backs misfiring Romelu Lukaku ahead of facing former club Everton and rules out Manchester United return for

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Interesting Stats. This will be the seventh FA Cup meeting between Wolves and Liverpool - Wolves have won four of the previous six, including the last such meeting in January 2017 (2- 1 at Anfield). Overall too Wolves hold the advantage in this fixture, winning 50 games out of a total of 102 and losing only 35 fixtures.
REVEALED! Key FA Cup statistics for Wolves v Liverpool

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Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could return to the side for the clash with relegation-threatend Brighton.. The Spurs captain missed Saturday's defeat at Manchester City with a slight muscle problem but could be fit and reclaim his spot between the sticks after Paulo Gazzaniga filled at the weekend.
NewsNow: Spurs News, Tottenham Transfers News & Rumours

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Arsenal fans finally have something to smile about after seeing their new set of kits leaked online. Ian Wright let slip their home and away shirts on social media last month, sparking a frenzy from supporters online before his post was deleted.
Arsenal 2019/20 third kit 'leaked' images: Gunn | SportSpyder

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Fantasy Premier League tips: Transfer advice for Gameweek 37, including Paul Pogba and Alexandre Lacazette. there is so much to play for in Fantasy Premier League in mini-leagues across the globe.
Transfer advice for Gameweek 37, including Paul Pogba and

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Nov 14, 2018 · G areth Southgate has said he does not agree with a Football Association plan to try and limit the number of foreign players in the Premier League post-Brexit.. The England manager explained that
Premier League clubs reject foreign player quota | The World Game

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How the Championship table would look based on every club's last eight away games Which clubs are at their best on the road in the second tier? By Anton Stanley
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Chelsea transfer news: Blues set price tag for Callum Hudson

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West Ham are unlikely to re-open contract talks with Declan Rice until the end of the season. The 19-year-old youth product, who earns about £3,000 per week, was offered a £15,000-a-week deal in
West Ham Play Hardball in Declan Rice Extension as Club

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