Mastantuono bids farewell to Messi on social media after star's Argentina retirement

Some farewells don't need grand speeches. Sometimes a single social media post is enough to sum up what it meant to share a field with the best. That's what Franco Mastantuono did this Tuesday, a day after Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the Argentina national team.

The midfielder, currently on loan at Fiorentina from Real Madrid, didn't let the moment slip by. He wrote what he'd probably been feeling for a while: that playing alongside his idol was, in itself, already a dream come true.

For eternity, the best we have. I fulfilled my biggest dream when I got to play soccer with my idol. All of us Argentines are going to miss you every time the national team plays. Thank you, 10Franco Mastantuono

The message didn't go unnoticed in Argentine soccer circles. And it makes sense: few players represent the crossroads between the departing idol and the rising generation quite like this kid out of River Plate, who just a year ago was a promising prospect playing at the Monumental and today is splitting time between Madrid and Florence trying to make his mark in Europe.

There's something almost poetic about all this, isn't there? Mastantuono had been clear as a kid, back when the comparisons started weighing on him more than they should have: "I'm never going to be Messi," he said back then, cutting off any excessive expectations at the root. Over time, that line took on new meaning: you didn't need to be Messi to share a roster with him, to wear the light blue and white by his side, even if only for a short while.

From the Scaloneta to the bench

Mastantuono once wore Messi's No. 10 during South American World Cup qualifying, a gesture that made waves at the time. But Lionel Scaloni's final roster for the 2026 World Cup, held across the United States, Mexico and Canada, didn't include him. His limited playing time at Real Madrid worked against him when it came to fighting for one of the 26 spots. Argentina made it all the way to the final, where they fell to Spain in New Jersey, and Mastantuono was left wishing he'd been able to share that tournament with Messi.

His time at the Bernabeu hasn't been easy. The club had paid 63.2 million euros for his transfer, and the stands weren't always patient with a young player still finding his footing. He held his head high in response: "I don't think I'm Messi, and I'm not the worst purchase in Real Madrid history either," he told the press when criticism was at its peak.

Xabi Alonso had backed him at one point, but the arrival of Alvaro Arbeloa as interim coach cut into his minutes even further, as he was overshadowed by names like Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz and Thiago Pitarch. That's why now, on loan at Fiorentina, he's after the most basic and yet most difficult thing: playing time, rhythm, and the confidence he never fully built in Madrid, all while the Italian club tries to climb out of a rough start to its Serie A season.