Christian Pulisic has revealed he would love to see Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi join him at Chelsea one day, while also naming Luis Figo as his ‘footballing idol’ when he was growing up.

Messi is widely regarded as the finest player in football history, after setting unprecedented new standards of excellence over the course of a 16-year career at Camp Nou.

The 32-year-old is Barca’s all-time leading scorer with 627 goals to his name from 718 appearances, and he has won the coveted Ballon d’Or award on six occasions – one more than former Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

The diminutive Argentinian has helped the Blaugrana win 33 trophies in total, including LaLiga 10 times and four Champions Leagues, while proving himself to be a consummate professional and 100% loyal to the Liga champions.

Pulisic is still in the early stages of his career, but has been tipped to reach the very highest level of the game himself in the coming years.

The 21-year-old completed a £59-million ($72m) move to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in 2019, and has contributed six goals and six assists to the club’s cause during his first season in England.

The United States international’s progress has been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, but he has taken some time out from a self-isolation fitness programme to answer questions for the Blues’ official app.

Pressed on who he would love to play with at Chelsea, Pulisic responded: ‘That’s tough, man! ‘I mean Figo was my favourite player growing up but I definitely wouldn’t mind having [Lionel] Messi on my team. Can I choose both?’

The Chelsea winger went on to reveal that former Real Madrid and Portugal midfielder Figo was his role model as a youngster, adding: ‘My first footballing idol was definitely Luis Figo.

‘He’s someone I looked up to when I was younger.

‘The first shirt I owned was a Luis Figo jersey and I remember wearing it when playing football with my dad in the basement at home back in Hershey.

‘In fact, my nickname then was actually Figo! My dad started it and sometimes he even still calls me it now.’