Lionel Messi Comes Out Of Nowhere With A Full Sleeve Tattoo

VIA: Lionel Messi is turning into a man right before our eyes.

Several months ago we pointed out the Argentine wizard’s new (terrible) soccer ball tattoo. It was embarrassing for everyone involved — for Messi, his family, and the child who now has to live the rest of his life in infamy because his first tattoo job happened to be on the leg of one of the greatest soccer players to ever walk the planet.

But now Leo’s figuring things out.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Lil’ Messi is tatting himself up. He’s been working on some full sleeve action, just like Thierry Henry, Jack Wilshere, David Beckham, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, Raul Meireles, Ross Barkley, Daniel Agger, Dani Alves, Nigel De Jong, Tim Cahill, Kevin-Prince Boateng, and several hundred other soccer players.

You may not have noticed, but over the last several weeks, Lil’ Messi has been sporting long sleeves a lot. Note: It’s his right arm.

But let’s take a step back and really work this Messi tattoo chronology.

Lil’ Messi chilling on December 30, 2014:

On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2014, Lil’ Messi’s arms were naked:

And then, in early February:

Weeks later, more art appeared on Lil’ Messi’s arm:

Two weeks ago, Messi was on international break and revealed some color on his forearms:

And today, thanks to the power of cameras and Al Gore, we’ve been treated to the big reveal:

The man responsible for Messi’s arm is tattoo artist Roberto Lopez, the man you see in the video below getting tattooed by Boca Juniors legend Martin Palermo. Yes, you read that right.

Here’s Lopez posing with Messi:

And here he is with Messi’s partner-in-goals Neymar:

Messi is now a man, with arms full of ink and a heart full of pride.