Former Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo has revealed that Barcelona enforced a bizarre rule during his time at the club to protect Lionel Messi.
23-year-old Todibo only made four appearances during his time at Barcelona, joining from Toulouse in 2019.
However, he trained along some of the very best players, including World Cup winner Messi.
Speaking to the Ligue 1 show, Todibo revealed a ‘crazy’ rule imposed by higher ups at Barcelona to protect the Argentine.
‘At Barcelona, we weren’t allowed to touch Leo Messi in training,’ he revealed.
‘It sounds crazy, but it’s true. We had to be careful. It’s normal, he’s the best, you don’t want to hurt him.’
The rule may have come into play during the latter years of Messi’s career, as Thierry Henry previously revealed that Messi was often fouled in training.
