Liverpool wonderkid Arat Hosseini announces departure from club
By Tom Gott
Eight-year-old viral star Arat Hosseini has confirmed his departure from Liverpool.
The Iranian youngster went viral online thanks to his videos of his insane dribbling, which earned him close to 6m followers on Instagram and a nickname of 'the Iranian Messi'.
A part of the Liverpool academy since he turned five, Arat's father has now revealed that he has walked away from the club because they are 'no longer useful' to him.
"Goodbye Arat from Liverpool Academy forever," he wrote. "When Arat and the Liverpool academy can not be useful to each other, the best decision is to go."
When explaining the decision to withdraw Arat from the academy, his father Mohammed wrote: "Just decided to break up because Arat's style of play does not fit with this (Liverpool's)."
On his next move, Mohammed added: "I have not yet decided on his future."
Towards the end of 2021, Arat was seen in videos wearing a Barcelona shirt and family members have previously confirmed that he wants to play at Camp Nou, but there is no indication that he is joining Barcelona.
Arat's exploits have been seen all around the world and numerous high-profile stars have spoken about their excitement towards his skills.
Rio Ferdinand and Memphis Depay are two of many, while Arat's reputation as a mini-Messi actually its way to the Argentine himself.
"Thank you Arat!! I see a lot of class here, impressive!" Messi said of the youngster in 2020.