Lionel Messi shows off weird new tattoo during Argentina training session

The Argetina forward adds peculiar new artwork to his tattoo collection as he prepares for qualification crunch match against Brazil on Thursday

The Argentina legend will hope to inspire his nation to victory in Brazil on Thursday (Getty )

Lionel Messi has revealed a strange new tattoo with ink covering almost half of his left leg while training with Argentina.

The Barcelona legend is a body art enthusiast and has recently decided to shade out the lower region of his left leg with an all-black tattoo which contains his shirt number and a football.

Messi shows off his new tattoo while training with the national team (Getty ) (Getty)

Messi’s left leg previously showed a picture of his son Thiago, wings and flowers but the old artwork has seemingly fallen out of favour with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Messi's old tattoo on his leg included a picture of his son Rocco (Twitter/@antoroccuzzo)

The forward is back in South America preparing for Argentina’s upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifier against Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Thursday.

Argentina may be in need of some Messi magic if they are to qualify for the tournament in Russia as they currently trail leaders, Brazil, by five points and have dropped to fifth in the standings following a three game winless streak.