Barcelona’s new signing Kevin-Prince Boateng became the latest player to shower praise on Lionel Messi.

The 31-year-old was a surprise January signing for the Camp Nou side, and he made his debut for the Catalan club in their 2-0 defeat to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg last month.

The former AC Milan man is awed by the Argentine’s brilliance and admitted that playing against the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is very difficult.

“I can honestly tell you that playing against Messi is very difficult,” Boateng told La Vanguardia, according to Marca.

“But seeing him now on the field is magical. He can do everything on his own, it is incredible.”

The forward also spoke about how he has changed the manner in which he looks at things throughout his career.

“Playing for this team is the most exciting thing that can happen to you and even at my age, although I’m a little old, it is a dream to play here.”

“When I was young, I was crazy. At 18 years old, I thought I was the boss in my neighbourhood because I had money,” he revealed.

“Then I had a child and it made me mature and without that happening, I wouldn’t have played for teams like Milan or Barcelona.

“I now weigh 83 kilos but there was a point when I was 95. In London, I was 20 years old and you go out partying and eat badly.

“When you’re young, if you don’t play you don’t really care because you have money and your friends all tell you that you are a phenomenon.”