Sunday, September 17, 2000, young Lionel Andres Messi slowly walked through the corridor of Ezeiza airport. Messi is on his way to realizing his dream of playing for a club in Europe, but inside he can’t help but feel anxious and worried because he feels like he has to travel by plane for the second time in his life (the first time was playing in a tournament). youth match in Peru with Newell’s Old Boys). In fact, the change in pressure when flying makes a skinny, short boy like Messi suffer from dizziness and vomiting. Messi was only 13 years old at the time but had to prepare mentally and physically to face the test at Barcelona in Spain.
Fabian Soldini, Messi’s representative, held three plane tickets in his hand because Jorge, Messi’s biological father, was also traveling with him. The suitcases carried were not very large, and at the same time raised doubts about Messi’s uncertain future. All three presented their passports, which they had urgently obtained a week before, went through customs and boarded the plane. Those are the slices of memories that will never fade in the mind of Lionel Messi, the star currently playing for Inter Miami, about his first trip to Barcelona, which he compared to the biggest adventure of his life.
Messi was confused in his first days at Barcelona
Lionel Messi began his career with the Abanderado Grandoli youth team before moving to train with the Newell’s Old Boys youth team, from 1995 to 2000. One of the first people to keep an eye on Messi was former Argentina international, Fabian Basualdo. who at that time was just starting out with the job of representing a player. However, Basualdo was slower than Fabian Soldini, who later became Messi’s representative. The first time he came to see Messi play for Newell’s Old Boys youth team, Soldini was immediately fascinated. “When I arrived, Messi was playing football. The boy is small but turns and handles the ball extremely skillfully. Even my grandmother who had cataracts realized that this child was a phenomenon,” Soldini recalls.
Not wasting the opportunity, Soldini arranged a meeting with Jorge, Messi’s father, who was then working at the Acindar metallurgical plant. Messi’s father mentioned that Newell’s Old Boys did not want to continue paying for growth hormone treatment at a cost of 960 USD/month and offered to settle abroad if Messi could play in Europe. It is important to know that just a few months earlier, Milan signed a contract with a player at Newell’s Old Boys, Leandro Depetris. This is the motivation for Messi’s family to want to go to Europe soon. Soldini then agreed to cover Messi’s treatment costs on the condition that Messi cancels the contract with his previous agent. Mr. Jorge agreed and made it clear that he would only sign a new representation contract once they had settled in Europe.
Even though he is short and light, Messi plays football very well
Like an open flag in his stomach, Soldini immediately called Juan Mateo, an Argentine living in Brazil and in direct contact with Jose Maria Minguella, Barca’s transfer consultant. “Juan, believe me, he is the new Diego Maradona,” Soldini told Mateo. The next day, Mateo called Minguella, who was very influential in Barca’s player purchasing decisions at that time. However, Minguella did not seem very interested, even asking Mateo back about whether he was using him to traffic children or not. Only at the end of August, when the European transfer market closed, did Minguella agree to let young Messi go to Barcelona.
Messi and his father Jorge and Soldini went straight to Minguella’s office after the plane landed at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport, the second largest airport in Spain and the 6th largest in Europe. Minguella was absent that day and the person who welcomed Messi and Soldini at 10 a.m. was Txiki Beguiristain, Barca’s sports director. Joaquim Rife, La Masia coordinator, announced that Messi had to go to the Ciudad Deportiva training ground that afternoon for a test. In addition to worrying about the test, Messi’s physical strength was also affected by fatigue and feelings of discomfort and vomiting due to the long-hour flight. But Messi has no other choice but to take his shoes to the field. Messi was placed in training with a group of players including Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Víctor Olmo and Toni Calvo.
Messi in a match at Barca’s youth team
Suddenly, one of the coaches at the Ciudad Deportiva training ground walked out of the dressing room with a worried expression and approached where Soldini and Jorge were waiting and said: “Messi will not be able to play, he is injured. I saw him bandaging his ankle.” Faced with this panic, Soldini explained that Messi has a habit of bandaging his ankle before training and matches. “I hope the kid will be okay because he may never come here again,” the other coach said to Soldini when he saw that Pique was more than a head taller than the Argentine boy. “I don’t know how other people play, but I know how he plays. Stay calm and observe,” Soldini replied confidently.
In the first required exercise, Messi attracted attention by not dropping the ball. In the second exercise, which was a one-on-one situation, Messi somewhat convinced Barca officials by his skills in handling the ball in a narrow range. After an impressive first training session, Messi and his son were accommodated in room 546 of the Plaza Hotel, while Soldini had to provide his own accommodation because Barcelona refused to cover Soldini’s accommodation costs. From September 17 to October 3, 2020, the three repeated the same routine: take the subway, practice and return.
Messi is still active in every training session, but no Barca official has stepped forward to guarantee certainty about the boy’s future. According to Soldini, Messi once scored 5 goals in a training session after Soldini challenged him in exchange for a set of his favorite sports clothes. The impatience caused Messi’s father and Soldini to begin to panic, because Messi missed many classes at school in Argentina. When confidence was about to run out, Carles Rexach, Barca’s technical director at that time, set his sights on Messi. Rexach spent 10 minutes continuously observing Messi as Messi eliminated four opposing players before kicking the net in a match of Barca’s youth team. But Rexach left without contacting Soldini and Jorge.
Messi’s family went to Spain in 2001
Therefore, Messi and his father packed their suitcases and returned to Argentina. Messi returned to school and returned to the Newell’s Old Boys youth team, where he cited pneumonia as an excuse for his absence. October and November 2000 passed without any news from Spain about Messi and his son. Minguella then contacted him to calm things down and informed that Barca would give a response as soon as possible. Martin Montero, owner of the brokerage firm where Soldini worked, flew to Spain to meet with Barcelona officials.
Ultimately, Rexach also arranged to meet Mr. Jorge Messi at a restaurant in Barcelona. Rexach asked the waiter for a piece of paper and wrote the words: “In Barcelona, on December 14, 2000, under the witness of Mr. Minguella and Horacio Gaggioli, I – Barca technical director Carles Rexach – committed to will sign Messi on our own responsibility, regardless of other opinions, as long as we stick to the agreed amount.”
On February 1, 2001, the entire Messi family traveled to Spain with Soldini and Juan Mateo.
Messi’s first contract signing ceremony with Barcelona was not even held at the club’s office, but took place right at a hotel a few blocks away. But that was enough for Messi to start a brilliant era at Barca that is hard for anyone to repeat.
