Former Arsenal centre back David Luiz has claimed that he has snubbed multiple Ligue 1 teams to avoid playing against the great Lionel Messi, who signed a deal with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
According to Luiz, who spent two years between 2014 and 2016 with PSG, "Lionel Messi is a nightmare" on the football pitch.
As Messi is extremely difficult to deal with "it is better not to play against him", Luiz added when British media quizzed him about his chances of featuring in the French league on Friday.
Messi's latest contract with PSG came to fruition after his 21-year-long association with his boyhood club, Barcelona, came to an abrupt end last week.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner ended his career at Camp Nou with a club-record of 35 titles, including 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies and four UEFA Champions Leagues.
Messi holds the world record for scoring the most goals for a single club, having scored 672 goals in 778 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions.
Although a new season looms for football leagues all over the world, Luiz is without a club for the first time in his career which began in 2006.
His past two seasons were with Arsenal: Luiz made 73 appearances for the Gunners, but decided against renewing his contract.
The South American claimed that he opted to exit Mikel Arteta's side as his ambitions do not match those of the north London based team.
"Both of us decided to split," he said.
"I came for two years and the aim was to win something, which I did (the FA Cup and Community Shield)."
"Now, I think the club has a different project for the long term. They have different ideas. My idea is to win, win, win as soon as possible," he added.