Messi 'was mystery buyer of £25million classic Ferrari that is the world's most expensive car

The Barcelona footballer allegedly outbid his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to secure the Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti in the auction at Artcurial in Paris, France.

A press release from those in charge of the auction revealed it was the 28-year-old footballer who made the highest bid, according to the New York Daily News. 

The athlete appeared to acknowledge the suggestion - or poke fun at it - on his Instagram page earlier today as he posted a picture holding a red toy car, with the caption: 'My new car.' 

It is not the first time the pair have come head-to-head and their rivalry is well documented.

The players are seen as the best in the world with fans and pundits regularly arguing about who is better.

Just last month, Messi pipped his rival once again after receiving the prestigious Ballon D'or - an acknowledgement for being the best player of the year - at a ceremony in Zurich. It is the eighth consecutive year the players have been up against eachother. 

They also regularly compete for the most goals of the season in the Spanish league and they currently have an ongoing battle to become Europe's all-time top goal scorer with Ronaldo leading the way with 88 goals.  

The car, which was sold to a round of applause on Saturday, is known for doing a staggering 186mph in 1957.

It finished second in the Mille Miglia - an open-road endurance race - that year before becoming the first car to average 200kph (124mph) on a lap of the Le Mans circuit.

The stunning machine was bought by French collector and racing driver Pierre Bardinon in 1970 and remained part of the family's staggering collection until this week.

Mr Bardinon passed away in 2012 and the family was told to sell the car at a French auction to settle an inheritance tax bill.

It went under the hammer at the high profile Artcurial sale in Paris with interest from around the world.

Marcel Massini, an esteemed Ferrari historian, had previously described it as the 'top of the top'.

Bidding quickly hit 25 million euros (£19.2m) and the hammer eventually went down at 28 million euros (£21.5m). With premiums and taxes the final price for the Ferrari was £24.66 million.

This made it a record auction sale in Sterling, beating the £22.8 million price paid for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO in 2014. 

The Ferrari 335 S Spider left the workshop in 1957 and was fitted with a 3..8-litre V12 engine developing 360bhp.

It finished sixth in the Sebring 12 Hours race and then came second in the Mille Miglia, a daunting 1,000-mile road race in Italy.

The car was then returned to the factory where the engine size was increased to 4.1-litres - boosting power to 400bhp. 

(www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3443114/Lionel-Messi-mystery-buyer-25million-classic-Ferrari-world-s-expensive-car-outbid-Cristiano-Ronaldo.html?ito=social-facebook)