Why did Lionel Messi snub Nike for Adidas? A recent report reveals the reason

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Inter Miami and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi have been in an ever-lasting collaboration with Sportswear giants Adidas since his beginning days, making the product one of the most popular brands in the world. But things could have been pretty different.

Messi has been in collaboration with Adidas since 2006. However, it is understood that it was Nike with whom Messi was actually in line to sign a long contract. But the relationship got affected and Messi switched to Adidas instead. But what actually happened?

Having arrived in Catalonia from his native country half a decade prior, the budding Argentine talent was embarking on his first strides towards securing a spot within Barcelona's senior team in 2005. Throughout his formative years at La Masia, he sported attire branded by Nike.

As he navigated through the ranks of the renowned academy, it became increasingly apparent that the club had a truly extraordinary asset in their possession. In the 2003-04 season, his progress was so remarkable that he traversed through four different youth levels in the span of just one season.

In his friendly match against Jose Mourinho's Porto in 2005, he dazzled through the field and it was clear that the youngster would soon make his breakthrough. That exponential development naturally drew outside interest from potential commercial partners.

However, as the former Barcelona star waits for a major breakthrough, reportedly Messi's father has had a dispute with Nike. As per Mirror, at some point in that time, Messi's father Jorge had made a request to the sportswear giants' Iberian and South American partners for more athletic apparel.

However, the request was completely ignored and the relationship soured. Eventually just a year later in 2006, Messi then switched to Nike's arch-rival Adidas for a $1 million per year offer. as his sporting partner. Since then they have been sharing a close bond.

Fast forward 18 years later now and it is evident that this was a costly error for the business with the Inter Miami forward going on to become one of the most known faces not only in sports but also in the world.