On September 17, 2012 Lionel Messi completed 12 years of association with Barcelona. It began when he was signed by the Catalan football giants at the tender age of 13, when Barcelona’s sporting director Carles Rexach offered the youngster a contract written on a paper napkin.
Twelve years later, that signing has turned out to be arguably the most important in football history. Messi, 25, has won every major club title and individual honor in the sport. With Barcelona, he has won La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana five times; the UEFA Champions League thrice; and the Copa del Ray, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup twice. He has won a staggering 81 individual awards. He earns oodles of money. He is a global superstar. He is a phenomenon.
From joining Barcelona as a youth-team player in 2001 to winning a host of trophies, including an unprecedented treble in 2008, Messi has scaled footballing peaks that he could only have dreamed of when he joined his hometown of Rosario’s Newll's Old Boys as an eight-year-old.
From making his club debut at 16 in a friendly against Porto, to scoring his first goal a year later, to hitting an El Clasico hat-trick at 19, to becoming a three-time Ballon d'Or winner by the age of 24 and Barcelona's all-time record goal-scorer at 25, Messi has wowed fans the world over. And, critically, he has done it without creating a stink off the football pitch.
Would Barcelona sell Messi, even if he is valued at more than £500? Having invested in a rare talent and watch him blossom into one of the greatest ever while delivering so much glory, it is unthinkable.
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