Kevin-Prince Boateng has admitted he lied about his love for Real Madrid in order to play for Barcelona, but claims that he had to change his story about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are untrue.
The former Tottenham midfielder was a surprise signing by Barcelona on loan from Sassuolo in 2019 and made only four appearances for the Catalan club.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand on the VIBE with FIVE podcast, Boateng was asked which was his favourite club and said: "I supported Hertha Berlin, where I grew up and then, sorry Blaugrana… Barcelona fans gonna hate me now, but Real Madrid.
"I couldn't say that in the press conference [when I signed for Barcelona]. They told me I could never say that. Because otherwise we can't play you."
And he added: "Two years before, when I was at Las Palmas, they asked me in a press conference who was the best player in the world and I said 'in this world Ronaldo, in the galaxy Messi' and then they asked me my favourite club and I said 'Real Madrid'.
Following his Barcelona unveiling in January 2019, the now-retired midfielder was asked again which club he supported.
"The first question was who is your favourite club, I said ‘Barcelona’," he laughed.
"I think anyone would have done the same, I wanted to pull on that shirt one time at Camp Nou."
Boateng also addes that the club's press officer instructed him to say Barcelona if he was asked that question.
"It's one of the biggest lies I've ever told," he added.
And Ferdinand relied: "Footballers lie, we lie all the time man."
But while he had previously said in a press conference that 'Ronaldo was the best player in this world, Messi the best in the galaxy', he opted for a simpler response to the question at his Barcelona presentation.
"They asked me who was the best player in the world, I said 'Messi,'" he revealed.
On social media, many users have shared a cropped version of the video in which he appears to be saying that 'the biggest lie I ever told' was saying that Messi was a better player than Ronaldo, which is untrue and unfortunately has been reported by a number of big media outlets.
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