Lionel Messi was spotted arriving for international duty with a £7,000 outfit as he takes a break from his Paris Saint-Germain struggles.
Messi, who joined the French club from Barcelona over the summer, has been having a tough time of things lately. PSG suffered a frustrating Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid, while a 3-0 defeat at Monaco in Ligue 1 came after the 34-year-old and his teammates were booed by a section of the support.
The Rosario-born forward has been enjoying a better time of things for his country over the last 12 months, ending his long wait for Copa America glory last summer and helping the Albiceleste qualify for the World Cup with games to spare. He is still part of Lionel Scaloni's squad for the formalities of the latest qualifying double-header, though, and showed up for international duty in good spirits.
It wasn't just the smile on Messi's face which caught the eye, though. Plenty of fans commented on the Argentine's sweatshirt, so much so that Marca have gone to the pains of breaking down his entire outfit by price.
The distinctive sweater, from DSquared2, is worth a reported €445 (£371), and are paired with £492 jeans and £542 shoes. However, when you take his luggage into consideration, the value of the outfit shoots up.
Messi's Louis Vuitton backpack comes in at a huge £2,417, with the suitcase - part of the same designer collection - setting you back £3,250 if you want one for yourself. All together, that's just north of seven grand, for those of you keeping score.
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Argentina boss Scaloni named a 44-man preliminary squad for the upcoming qualifiers, with Premier League players Emi Martinez, Emi Buendia and Cristian Romero named among the initial group but missing the games through suspension. Messi does have some Premier League company, though, with Manuel Lanzini of West Ham, Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton and Manchester United youngster Alejandro Garnacho all earning call-ups, along with recent Manchester City signing Julian Alvarez.
Scaloni's side will host Venezuela in Buenos Aires on Friday before travelling to Guayaquil for their game on March 29. With 10 wins and five draws from their opening 15 qualifiers, Argentina can afford to lose all three of their remaining games and still qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
Messi's arrival in South America comes as Barcelona manager and former teammate Xavi has confirmed the door will always be open for the Ballon d'Or winner to return to Camp Nou. "As long as I'm the coach here, if he wants to come every day to watch training or talk to the coach, what he's given us is priceless," the 42-year-old said.
