In the early days of Barca's youth academy, things did not go well for Messi. His small stature was ignored by his teammates, coupled with the language barrier, Messi often felt lonely, "at that time I was in poor health, the family separation, lived a very poor, the biggest wish is to be able to kick out, the biggest luxury is to share a phone card with his teammates to talk to his mother." I knew I would come out, but I didn't think it would go this far."
Based on love, Messi always persevered and eventually won recognition with football.
Messi has played 31 games for Barca's youth team, scoring 38 goals and helping the team win three titles. In February 2004, Messi finally signed his first professional contract with Barca and was officially promoted to the first team in October of the same year.
On 1 May 2005, Messi came on as a substitute in the 34th round of La Liga at home to Albacete and scored his first competitive goal in the 91st minute from Ronaldinho's pass. The story of a big club and a football superstar's mutual achievement opened the prelude.
Barcelona will be the hotbed of Messi's football dream, and Messi will return Barcelona to a heyday. In his 17 years with Barca, Messi completed 778 appearances, 672 goals and 305 assists, helping Barca win 35 titles, including four Champions League titles and 10 La Liga titles. He also won the Ballon d 'Or six times, the World Player of the Year six times and the European Golden Boot six times.
Messi said: "I want to stay at Barcelona for the rest of my life. I'll stay here as long as they want me to. I owe Barcelona more than they gave me. They changed my life."
But the same napkin, a paper contract when it came, filled with Messi's tears when it left. Due to the club's poor financial situation, Barca announced in August 2021 that they were parting ways with Messi.
The "little man" on the field, the "giant" off the field
On the pitch, Messi went all out to win numerous honors to repay Barca's gratitude; And outside the field, Messi also shoulders more social responsibilities.
In 2007, Messi set up his own charitable foundation to help sick children in Argentina receive medical treatment; In 2010, Messi was named a UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador and donated €100,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 2020, Messi donated 1 million euros to hospitals in Barcelona and Argentina to fight COVID-19.
In addition, Messi has traveled to charity events around the world, and organized donations for victims of the 2008 snow disaster in southern China and the 2010 Yushu earthquake. The little "giant" of football is spreading goodwill around the world.
The rising influence on and off the field also makes Messi's commercial value become "more gold".
Although according to the German transfer market website, Messi, who has entered the twilight of his career, is worth only 50 million euros, which is far from the rising stars such as Haaland and Mbappe, who are 170 million euros, Messi still ranks first among Forbes' global athletes in 2022 with an annual income of 130 million dollars. His career earnings have exceeded $1 billion.
In addition, "Boss May" is also constantly expanding its business territory.
In 2017, Messi set up hotel chain MiM and bought a four-star hotel in Barcelona's seaside resort for £26 million under the name MiM.
In 2019, Messi partnered with well-known fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger to launch its own branded clothing M10.
Messi has even dabbling in the cryptocurrency space, having partnered with Ethernity Chain platform and fan token company Socios.com. In November 2022, Messi also bought a stake in Sorare, a digital football NFT collection platform.
In addition, on the eve of the Qatar World Cup, MGO, the Brand portfolio company behind the Messi Brand, has filed for listing in the United States, with a market value of about $69 million.
According to wealth tracking website Celebrity Net Worth, Messi's net worth is estimated at $600 million.
Messi once said: "Until I met football, my life changed completely, I remember my first football, in my heart, it is like a candy." Now this "candy" has become an unforgettable World Cup.
After winning the World Cup for the first time, Messi said in an interview that the trophy was really wonderful, "I have won the World Cup, the Copa America, I feel that my career is coming to an end." But I love football, I enjoy playing for the national team and I hope to continue playing as a champion."
