'Incredible': Lionel Messi left blown away by 'quality' midfielder Arsenal are considering a move for

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Fortunately, Arsenal are longer regularly facing Lionel Messi in Europe, the days of the former Barcelona star lighting up the Emirates Stadium are now over.

Arsenal seemed to draw Barcelona in the Champions League every season for a long while under Arsene Wenger, and Messi rarely missed a chance to show his ability in north London.

Although, Arsenal did enjoy one famous night beating Messi and co, courtesy of an unforgettable Andrey Arshavin winner under the lights in N5.

That being said, both Barcelona and Argentina are beginning to turn to a new generation of stars, even if Messi was still able to score a hat-trick against Bolivia in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

And in that 6-0 victory, Nico Paz made his debut for his country, a player who Arsenal have their eyes on.

Lionel Messi praises Nico Paz’s mindset after Arsenal links

Arsenal are monitoring Paz's progress at Como, a young attacking midfielder who is currently being tutored by Cesc Fabregas in Italy.

The 20-year-old joined Como from Real Madrid this summer and is already central to everything good Fabregas' side are achieving.

READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp could play a key role in whether Arsenal sign their dream striker next summer

And after playing 17 minutes against Bolivia, Messi was incredibly impressed by the young talent, a player with the perfect mindset.

Speaking via Fabrizio Romano who posted the comments on X, Messi noted that Fabregas was the perfect man to unlock Paz's potential right now.

Messi said: "Nico Paz has an incredible mindset, and that's why he's where he is”.

“Nico has a lot of quality and understands the game perfectly. He has an incredible mindset, and he's with Cesc Fabregas as coach who is my friend and will help him grow a lot”.

Ethan Nwaneri might not be happy to see Nico Paz arrive at Arsenal

It remains to be seen how serious Arsenal are about signing Paz, they're only keeping an eye on his progress for now.

But perhaps Ethan Nwaneri's breakthrough explains why Mikel Arteta doesn't necessarily need to sign the young Argentinian right now.

Paz plays in a similar role, a position in which Arsenal also have Fabio Vieira.

Given he's been shipped out on loan to FC Porto, perhaps Vieira doesn't have a long-term future in north London at this point.

And Arsenal fans might only be content with Paz's arrival one day should it be to replace Vieira, given that Arteta already has a well-stocked squad.