Will the ride quality be as silky smooth as his dribbling skills? Lionel Messi reportedly set to launch £10,000 custom bike

He may be best known for his silky-smooth dribbling skills, lightning-fast acceleration, and ice-cold finishing, but by this time next year the cycling world could be more obsessed with Lionel Messi’s ride quality, quick handling, and paint finish.

Because, according to reports from Spain, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner – seemingly unperturbed by his foray into the chaotic business landscape of America’s MLS – is set to enter the equally turbulent bike industry next year, by launching his own high-end racing machine.

Yes, that’s right. According to Spanish sports site Relevo, Messi – a four-time winner of the Champions League with Barcelona and widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time – is ready to invest in cycling and will put a new custom premium bike on sale in the next few months.

> Footballers who cycle XI — the Premier League stars who love life on two wheels

Like many of his fellow footballers, the 37-year-old has long been a fan of cycling, and has been filmed on several occasions riding a bike with his son in Florida, where he currently plies his trade for David Beckham-owned side Inter Miami.

While little is currently known about the bike or when it will be released, Relevo says it will be launched in collaboration with an unnamed “world-class” professional cyclist and will be “on par” with the best bikes in the world.

The Messi-approved machine is also expected to cost in the region of €10,000 to €15,000 (around £8,000 to £12,500).

> Barcelona star Lionel Messi nets gift of Team Sky Pinarello

And while the prospect of a Lionel Messi bike brand has certainly caught us off-guard, this isn’t the first time that the legendary forward – who won the World Cup with Argentina in 2022 – has dipped his hugely talented toe into the world of cycling.

Back in 2015, at the peak of his powers, he was presented with a Team Sky-coloured Pinarello Dogma F8 at Barcelona’s training facility by the British squad’s then-chief Sir David Brailsford and Fausto Pinarello, chairman of the iconic Italian bike maker.

He was also handed a Rapha Team Sky jersey adorned with the Argentinian flag and ‘Leo 10’ on the sleeve.

At the time, it was reported that, despite his throwback performances on the football pitch, Messi was apparently very taken with the bike’s forward-thinking electronic Shimano Di2 gearing, and was keen to learn about the machine’s technical aspects, as well as finding out how Team Sky go about their training.

> Lionel Messi wins nine-year trademark battle against Spanish bike brand Massi

And if that wasn’t enough of a cycling link, in 2020 the Barcelona legend won a nine-year legal battle to register his surname as a trademark, after the European Court of Justice dismissed an appeal made by Spanish bike brand Massi, who argued the move could lead to customer confusion.

Messi first sought to register his name as a trademark in 2011, only for Massi to lodge an objection, arguing that the footballer’s branding was too similar to its own as he sought to trademark it for sports goods and apparel.

The EU’s intellectual property office, EUIPO, agreed with Massi, saying that the respective branding was “almost identical visually and phonetically”.

However, in 2018, the General Court of the European Union ruled that Messi’s fame was such that there could be no confusion between the two in the mind of the average consumer, with the bike manufacturer’s appeal eventually being dismissed by the European Court of Justice.

So, I’m sure Massi will be delighted with the fleet-footed Argentinian’s reported entry into the bike industry, then.

And of course – given their intense personal rivalry over the past two decades – the reported forthcoming arrival of a premium Lionel Messi bike can mean only one thing: it’s only a matter of time before Cristiano Ronaldo gets on the phone to Shimano and starts sourcing components…