A LIONEL MESSI shirt he gave to a Manchester United masseur at the peak of his powers has sold for SIX TIMES as much as a Cristiano Ronaldo one in the same auction.

Former Red Devils masseur Rod Thornley has been selling off his incredible collection of shirts, which .

NINTCHDBPICT001102538052A signed Lionel Messi shirt worn against Man Utd has sold for over £48,000 Credit: MWS NINTCHDBPICT001102538093The shirt was part of Rod Thornley’s MatchWornShirt Legends Collection Credit: MWS

But his memorabilia set of kits does not end there, with one shirt from the best footballer of all time included.

Back in 2012, played against -led in a pre-season friendly.

And a text sent to former defender days before the game helped Thornley to secure one of the most-coveted shirts in football history.

Speaking to MatchWornShirt, Thornley revealed: “I messaged Gerard Piqué a couple of days before the game and said, I never ask you for anything, but I need Messi’s shirt from this one.

“At the end of the game Gerard came into our dressing room, grabbed me, and walked me straight into theirs.

“Messi still had the shirt on his back.

“He took it off, signed it to me while I sat there with him, and shook my hand. It was incredible.”

A staggering 14 years later, the shirt has now been sold at auction for a huge sum as part of MatchWornShirt’s Legends Collection.

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And one plucky punter has now bought the shirt for a whopping £48,608.

What is even more incredible, is the same auction saw a signed shirt sold for a fraction of the price.

Ronaldo‘s shirt, worn in a friendly against Man Utd in August 2014, went for £7,795, six times lower than Messi’s from two years earlier.

NINTCHDBPICT001102538054It sold for six times as much as a signed Cristiano Ronaldo shirt worn against United in 2014 Credit: MWS Kh-transfer-news-live-blog-20-08-hero-1