BR - Lionel Messi was 13 when he joined Barcelona. There was no stampede for his signature, and the deal he signed on a napkin was not the culmination of endless speculation—nor was his arrival at Camp Nou met with teen-idol hysteria.
Messi didn't choose his best option; he chose his only one. Barcelona were the sole club willing to pay for the growth hormone treatment he needed, and—as it would turn out—in their show of faith, the European football landscape was altered forever.
