Messi: 'That goalkeeper is an alien'

Lionel Messi praised the performance of a goalkeeper who currently mostly sits as a substitute in the Premier League as the best display he has ever witnessed.

Lionel Messi once believed Fraser Forster would become one of the greatest goalkeepers in history, following his brilliant performance when Celtic shockingly defeated Barcelona in the 2012/13 Champions League season. In that match, Forster played so impressively that Spanish media dubbed him "The Great Wall".

In Celtic's 2-1 victory, the most notable praise for the now 38-year-old goalkeeper came from Messi himself.

In a 2015 interview, the Argentine superstar admitted: "Fraser Forster's performances against us were talked about for a long time. The match in Scotland where he was like an alien, that was the best goalkeeper performance I have ever seen."

Messi even believed Forster would soon join one of the top clubs in the English Premier League.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner also revealed that Barcelona players at that time discussed the possibility of signing this goalkeeper. He added: "When Victor Valdes said he would leave, we once talked about bringing Forster here. I was sure he would join Arsenal, Chelsea, or Man Utd."

However, the goalkeeper born in 1988 did not move to Barcelona but chose to develop his career in southern England, with spells at Southampton and currently Bournemouth, interspersed with a brief period playing for Tottenham.

This goalkeeper joined Bournemouth in January on a six-month contract, serving as backup for first-choice goalkeeper Đorđe Petrovic.

Forster, who just turned 38 last month, shared: "The opportunity came and for me, it was something I couldn't refuse.

I'm really very happy. Everything happened quite quickly but I'm very pleased to be here and become part of the team. I look forward to helping the team and contributing in the best way for the rest of the season.

You can clearly see the club's development direction and ambition, and that was very appealing to me."