Messi: To play at Newell's 'is what I dreamed about since I was a kid'

When Lionel Messi was offered a place in one of Spain's youth teams, he gave a short response: "I told them I'm an Argentine, from Rosario, and a leper." Of course, he wasn't referring to leprosy, but to Newell's Old Boys, the Argentinian club known as La Lepra. He played there until 2000, when, at 13 years old, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and joined Barcelona's under-14 team.

Seventeen years on, Messi is still infected with a desire to play for his boyhood club.

In a one-on-one with TyC Sports' Sportia, Messi talked about the chance of his career finishing at Newell's, saying, "I would like to play at Newell's, play in Primera, be able to be inside of that pitch where I went to see so many games. But I don't know what will happen from here to a few years, where I'll be, how I'll be to return. I can't say I'm going back and I'm going to play. I would love it and I always said it but I don't know what will happen. I hope it can be like that and I can play at Newell's, which is what I dreamed about since I was a kid."

Messi's words echoed an exclusive that El Grafico published in 2016, in which he conceded that a move to Argentina is appealing.

"It's something that I would still like to do," he said, according to the Press Association. "I don't know when, but it's a possibility. I haven't set myself any goals, short or long term, but I'd like to keep playing while my body allows it and I have something to offer the team. When I know that it's time, I'll make a decision."

Messi left Newell's when he needed expensive hormonal treatment to correct a genetic defect. La Lepra couldn't afford it, while Barcelona, tipped off about his potential, could.