Barcelona loanee Halilovic: "I went to Barça because of Lionel Messi"

Barcelona wonderkid Alen Halilovic is starting his career at Sporting Gijón, playing with the newly-promoted La Liga side on loan for this season, and every Barça fan and official hope he can return to Catalonia ready to become the next great Blaugrana. His style of play has drawn comparisons to Lionel Messi, and the Argentine superstar is actually the reason why the Croatian is under contract with the Catalan giants.

In a recent interview with Cadena SER radio, the 19-year-old talked about his new club, the reason why he joined Barça, and even said that his national teammate Mateo Kovacic, who recently signed for Real Madrid, should have joined the Treble winners. Check out some highlights of his answers:

"I don't know why Barça didn't sign Kovacic. He's really, really good. He's a player with a really bright future.

"I'm very happy here. Sporting are a great club, with great players and a good manager.

"I went to Barça because of Messi. He's the best. The first day I saw him was a shock. I went weak at the knees."

Source: Cadena SER via Sport

That last quote -- "I went weak at the knees" -- is just the nicest quote ever. It's so great to see a kid with so much talent and potential actually star-struck to meet an idol. We love you, Alen!

Source: Renato Goncalves http://ift.tt/1K9vLhY