Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez took to social media to express his pride at Pope Francis being presented with his Reds shirt.
Earlier this week, Andy Burnham - the Mayor of Greater Manchester - gave the Pope a signed Martinez jersey. The gift was handed to the 86-year-old during the Mayor's visit to the Vatican as a part of a delegation who were given a private audience with Pope Francis to discuss climate change.
It came as somewhat of a surprise to see the Pope pictured with Martinez's shirt, but the Argentinian centre-back was understandably proud of the exchange. He took to Twitter to speak about his joy, while also thanking Burnham and United for the gesture.
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He wrote: "Thank you to @ManUtd and @AndyBurnhamGM for presenting my shirt to que His Holiness Pope Francis, for whom I have great respect and feel huge pride as an Argentinian".
As per the BBC, Burnham reflected on the "historic moment" of meeting the Pope, saying: "This is the first time that all the faith leaders of Greater Manchester have come together with civic leaders to agree our pledge for a greener Greater Manchester region."
Pope Francis hails from Argentina, the country with whom Martinez won the World Cup back in December. The Reds defender - nicknamed 'The Butcher' - arrived at Old Trafford from Ajax last summer and quickly became a fan favourite. He has made 45 appearances for Erik ten Hag's this term, but will play no further part after picking up an injury.
Martinez recently had surgery to repair a fractured metatarsal he suffered during the Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie against Sevilla. He is now aiming to recover in time for the start of the next campaign.
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