--- title: "Which ex-Manchester City stars played alongside Lionel Messi the most for Argentina? " canonical: "https://readmancity.com/2026/10/27/which-ex-manchester-city-stars-played-alongside-lionel-messi-the-most-for-argentina/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Read Man City" section: "Articles" published: "2026-10-27T15:50:08Z" modified: "2026-10-27T15:50:08Z" --- # Which ex-Manchester City stars played alongside Lionel Messi the most for Argentina? **The international career of the greatest footballer that’s ever lived has officially come to an end.** Lionel Messi brought down the curtain on a glittering, record-breaking international tenure on October 6th when he pulled on the famous Albiceleste jersey of Argentina for the 208th and final time. And despite now being 39 years of age, the little magician delivered [yet another blistering performance](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/live/cxdd8721zm4qt). Online betting sites had expected such a display from the great man. In the hours before kick-off, outlets such as the popular [5Gringos online sportsbook](https://5gringos.com/ca/) listed Messi as short as 1/12 to score in the match, and he duly delivered. He assisted both Nicolas Otamendi and the heir to his iconic number ten jersey, Nico Paz, before netting his 126th and final international goal from the penalty spot as Argentina dispatched Benin by three goals to nil in Buenos Aires. But the tears started long before he had even reached the ground. Cameras caught Messi wiping his eyes on the team bus as supporters ran alongside it through the streets towards the stunning 85,000-capacity Estadio Monumental. When he finally emerged, it was with his three sons, Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro, at his side and a giant number 10 shirt bearing a single word, “Gracias”, stretched across the pitch in front of him. ## **Messi in Manchester: What might have been** Manchester City have repeatedly flirted with the idea of signing Messi over the years. After repeatedly missing out on Messi since 2008, [the Blues came close](https://readmancity.com/2017/02/19/guardiola-keen-sign-messia-100-million/) to tempting the Argentina captain to the Etihad in 2017, with Sheikh Mansour reportedly offering a $100m signing-on fee plus a $50m per year salary beginning in 2018, when Messi’s Barcelona contract was due to expire. He would pen a new deal to remain at the Camp Nou, but then in the summer of 2020, fresh off Barca’s stunning 8-2 thumping at the hands of Bayern Munich, City would try their luck once again. In the aftermath of that defeat, Messi famously sent a burofax, a formal written notice, saying he wanted to leave Catalonia. He met with former Blues boss Pep Guardiola at his home in Barcelona and spoke directly, with the legendary manager willing to extend his own City contract if the deal happened. The Blaugrana, however, insisted that Messi’s free-exit clause had expired in June, and president Josep Maria Bartomeu told Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father and agent, that any buyer would [have to pay the €700m release clause](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/30/lionel-messi-fails-to-attend-barcelona-pre-season-medical-amid-city-links). ### Never happened… The move ultimately never happened, and a year later, when Messi finally hit the open market, City were unwilling to make their move. The club had just forked out 100m to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa and, as such, weren’t interested in a move for a similarly dynamic winger. Messi would head to Paris Saint-Germain instead, and City supporters were left dreaming of what might have been. But while the greatest player that’s ever lived may have never pulled on the famous sky-blue Manchester City shirt, many of the club’s former (and current) players, eight of them to be exact, have starred alongside Messi for the Argentina national team. So, which of them played alongside him the most across the last 20 years? Let’s take a look. ## **Nicolás Otamendi** At the ripe old age of 38, over six years on from his Manchester City departure, Nicolás Otamendi remains a teammate of Lionel Messi. Well, he was until that Benin finale, when the veteran center-back started alongside his iconic captain for the 107th time. In fact, only one man can better the 8,179 minutes that Otamendi has spent on the pitch alongside Messi in Argentina colours, and that’s former Barcelona man Javier Mascherano. While Benin was the curtain call, the last stand came at MetLife Stadium back in July. Lisandro Martínez limped off in the World Cup final defeat against Spain just before half-time, and Otamendi went on alongside his captain on the grandest stage for the final time. Argentina defended deep for another hour and more against wave after wave of Spanish possession, until Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute. ### Key in Copa America… Diego Maradona gave Otamendi his debut in 2009, and he went to the 2010 World Cup as a 22-year-old. That tournament ended with a 4-0 quarter-final hammering by Germany. He was then left out of the squad for Brazil 2014, so he missed the run to the Maracanã final. He was back for the lean years that followed: the Copa América finals lost on penalties to Chile in 2015 and 2016, and the chaos of Russia 2018, where his ill-tempered moment of kicking the ball at a grounded Ivan Rakitić summed up a 3-0 defeat by Croatia. Under Lionel Scaloni, the hurt turned into silverware. Otamendi was a key figure in the side that won the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América, and that beat Italy in the 2022 Finalissima. His 100th cap came in the Qatar final itself, an imperfect afternoon in which his foul on Randal Kolo Muani gave France their first penalty, before Argentina won the shootout and handed Messi his crowning moment. He retired four days after the 2026 final but came out of retirement for one last stand alongside his skipper against Benin. They’ve had quite the journey together; nobody can doubt that. ## **Sergio Agüero** Before the Qatar final in December 2022, Manchester City’s all-time record goalscorer, Sergio Agüero, reportedly slept in Lionel Messi’s room in the team hotel. He had already been retired for a year, but the two had shared a room at every Argentina camp for their whole careers. Messi has since said that when Agüero stopped playing, it left a gap no one else could fill. It began at the 2005 Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, where they were roommates and both central to Argentina winning the title. Three years later, they won Olympic gold together in Beijing. Senior football was harder. The pain piled up: elimination at the 2010 and 2018 World Cups, the 2014 final defeat to Germany in Brazil, and back-to-back Copa América final losses to Chile. In the 2014 final, Agüero came on at half-time but could not find a way past Germany. ### Aguerro…………. Russia 2018 summed up the partnership. Against Iceland, Agüero spun and fired a left-footed shot into the top corner for his first World Cup goal, at his ninth attempt. Later in the same game, Hannes Halldórsson saved Messi’s penalty, and Argentina could only draw. In the last-16 defeat to France, Messi crossed for Agüero to head a late consolation in a 4-3 loss. Agüero finally won a senior trophy alongside Messi at the 2021 Copa América. It was the 81st and last time he played alongside Messi for Argentina; only seven men have appeared alongside him more. That summer, he joined Barcelona, but Messi left the club within days, so their club partnership never happened. In December 2021, a heart arrhythmia forced him to retire, but Agüero remains Argentina’s third-highest scorer, behind only Messi and Gabriel Batistuta, level with current hitman Lautaro Martínez, and one of the players who spent the most time with the little magician.