Manchester City forward and Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor has admitted to BBC Sport that he was star struck the first time he met Barcelona’s European Player of the Year Lionel Messi. Adebayor recalls meeting the Argentine international for the first time when he visited former teammate and current Barcelona forward Thierry Henry in Barcelona.

“I went out to see Thierry Henry in Barcelona,” said the former Arsenal forward.

“He told me someone else was coming to dinner and all of sudden Messi walked in. He looked so small, so insignificant, and yet to me he was the world’s greatest player. For a moment, I wasn’t even able to speak.”

Adebayor and Henry were great friends when they were playing alongside each other at Arsenal, with Henry hoping that the Togolese forward would take over from him as the talisman of the Emirates side. However Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger cashed in on the forward, after fans began to boo Adebayor for stirring up speculation regarding his future.

Today, The Football Association have handed Togo international and City forward Emmanuel Adebayor a four-match ban after the striker was sent off in Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round replay defeat at Stoke City, his second red card of the campaign.

City had considered launching an appeal against referee Steve Bennett’s decision but were put off when they were told by the FA that the ban could be extended to five games if it was deemed to be “frivolous”.