He shone at FC Barcelona, he was the ideal partner of Lionel Messi and today he earns his living as a boxing coach

There are many stories of players who promise to be the best in history and then do not achieve due to personal problems. Great players have passed through the Macia of FC Barcelona who later see their dream frustrated. This is the case of one of Lionel Messi's best teammates at FC Barcelona who today must earn his living as a boxing coach while Messi continues to earn millions.

Lionel Messi played alongside many players at FC Barcelona but there were some who were very special for having shared a lot of time in Lionel Messi's childhood. This is the case of Diong Mendy, who together with Lionel Messi were the two best players in their category at FC Barcelona. The end of both was very different.

At the age of 14, Diong Mendy arrived at FC Barcelona and started playing in its lower divisions. He quickly found in Lionel Messi the ideal partner to score a large number of goals. In total, Mendy scored 96 goals and together with Messi they dazzled all the scouts and people of FC Barcelona. But his career had an unexpected tragic turn that took him away from FC Barcelona.

At the age of 17, when he was expected to make his debut in the first division of FC Barcelona and share the pitch with players like Ronaldinho, Xavi or Iniesta, Mendy's father passed away and that affected his game. Mendy could not get out of that bad mood and was never again the player that he had proven to be the previous years. He left FC Barcelona, played for several teams in Spain but never succeeded.

Today Mendy works as a boxing coach as it is another of his passions. Already away from the world of soccer, Mendy says that every time he goes to Barcelona he tries to visit Lionel Messi since he has a great relationship with him. Lionel Messi has played with great players and many fell by the wayside but Diong Mendy could have been his perfect partner if the stars had aligned.