Garnacho has long been an admirer of the Portuguese and former Red Devils superstar, publicly admitting Ronaldo is his idol.

Even the boots Garnacho wore while scoring his outrageous goal, which he gave away to a fan on Monday, are Nike’s Ronaldo-inspired Vapor 15 Mercurial Dream Speed cleats.

Rio Ferdinand (left) has claimed that Lionel Messi unfollowed Alejandro Garnacho (right) on Instagram because the Manchester United forward openly prefers Cristiano Ronaldo

Messi (left) pictured on international duty with Argentina team-mate Garnacho (centre) in March 2022 – one month before fans alleged the veteran had unfollowed him on social media

Reacting to Garnacho’s decision to copy Ronaldo’s celebration at Goodison Park, Rio Ferdinand said on his podcast Vibe with Five: ‘You know what I like about him? He doesn’t give a f***.

‘Garnacho told me that Messi unfollowed him just because he makes no secret of preferring Ronaldo.

‘He comes out, don’t care, “I’m a Ronaldo man”. Who’s the GOAT? Ronaldo. (Even) when he’s in the Argentina squad.’

Fans alleged on social media back in April 2022 that Messi had unfollowed Garnacho on Instagram because he posted a picture of Ronaldo calling the Portuguese star the greatest of all time.

It came just three weeks after Garnacho posted an image of himself alongside Messi, referring to the Argentina captain as an ‘idol’.

Today, Messi does still not follow Garnacho on Instagram despite the Manchester United star following him.

Messi and Ronaldo are widely regarded as two of the best players in football history, placed in the company of Brazil legend Pele and former Argentina star Diego Maradona.

The 19-year-old forward shocked world football with one of the greatest ever overhead kicks against Everton at the weekend as Manchester United triumphed 3-0 at Goodison Park

Garnacho posted an image of Ronaldo at Manchester United back in April 2022 – claiming the Portuguese superstar is the ‘greatest of all time’ in a snub to Argentina team-mate Messi

When asked which overhead kick was better out of Garnacho’s and Wayne Rooney’s strike against Manchester City in 2011, Ferdinand added: ‘Garnacho. One was off a shin pad, the other was off his boot. I’m sorry, Wazza.

‘I was in my house in the front room with my family and we went ballistic. It was nuts.

‘Even my little boy, his tooth had just fell out, he fell and his tooth just got knocked out, he was trying to do overhead kicks in the living room like probably millions of little kids around the world at the time.

‘That goal is better than Rooney’s. He was running away from the goal, a bit further away from the goal, at an angle. It was unbelievable, breathtaking moment.’