Former Barcelona youth team graduate Cesc Fabregas has reflected back on Lionel Messi’s first training session with the club and how he wowed him and his teammates
Cesc Fabregas has explained how Lionel Messi amazed him and his Barcelona teammates during his first training session with the club.
Messi joined the Catalan club’s La Masia academy as a 13-year-old in 2000, moving to the city from Argentina and joining a youth team that was populated with talents from Spain and predominantly from the region of Catalonia.
The Argentine would spend the following 21 years of his career at the club, where he would go on to establish himself as a superstar and arguably the greatest footballer of all time. Messi became the highest appearance holder and top goal scorer in Barca’s illustrious history.
Messi was in the same age group as Fabregas, who is one month older than the Argentine. It was the same â1987 born’ youth team which included Gerard Pique as a central defender and which also included Franck Songo’o, who would enjoy a long and successful career in professional football.