Messi is 'intellectually gifted' claims expert

Stuart Telford

Updated: 14 Mar 2024 11:52 CDT
3 min read

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, 2024 — © IMAGO

Lionel Messi fits the definition of somebody who has "a high intellectual capacity" according to the president of Indifferent Minds, Jana Martinez-Piqueras.

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Messi is widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of the game, a winner of a record eight Ballons d'Or who led Argentina to their third World Cup in the winter of 2022.

A Barcelona club legend, Messi has most recently turned out for Inter Miami, where he has hit 16 goals and seven assists from 19 games, including lifting the inaugural Leagues Cup, since his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.

That he is a genius with the ball at his feet is beyond question. And now Martinez-Piqueras has attempted to explain his talent in a more meaningful way.

"It's believed Messi could be a person with high intellectual capacity," she told Marca.

Inter Miami won their first-ever trophy last night.

Of course Messi scored a beauty. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/oYaF68OLzE
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 20, 2023

IQ 'an obsolete paradigm'

"Historically, these people have always been associated with a number, with the result of a test, with a high IQ, but this is a completely obsolete paradigm. At the level of science, this is no longer sustainable.

"He shows the concept of genius. Messi… designs of the play, his peripheral gaze, the exact calculation with the ball. It's clear that he has multiple combined cognitive abilities.

"And then there is the most important thing: Messi, like people with high capacity, the environment in which he intervenes changes. If someone believes that everything Messi did on the field is due to the fact that he rotates his ankle very well, they are wrong."

Messi's teammates Inter teammates Robert Taylor and Julian Gressel recently revealed that the native Spanish speaks English to a degree neither they, nor many others, had imagined.

Messi is still valued at €28.3 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, but at 36 years of age, has likely made his last move before retiring.