The Messi we see today is a far different person to the impressionable youngster we marvelled at during his emergence.
Now married to Antonella – the love of his life, his soulmate, one of his oldest friends and his anchor away from the uber-pressured world he inhabits – he is the doting father of three sons, two of whom (Thiago and Mateo) are old enough to have begun to take an active interest in football. They train with the Barcelona youngsters under the supervision in the stands of Messi, sitting next to Luis Suarez, who comes to watch his kids too, and they follow their father’s career with interest.
But there are similarities. Now, just as in the early days, he needs to be surrounded by those people he trusts and likes.
Back in the day it was friends like Ronaldinho and Portuguese midfielder Deco who made him feel protected. These days he feels the same level of protection with his great friend Suarez, while Antonella and his growing family have given him a confidence and continuity to his life, along with the perspective to realise that as important as football is, and always has been, there is a life apart from the game involving them that is equally important.
It is a routine which features training in the morning, then coming home to eat with his wife before picking the children up from school, where he will invariably get involved in matters pertaining to their life and education. In fact, his is very much a ‘run of the mill-ionaire’ existence in the seaside suburbia that is the resort of Castelldefels just outside Barcelona; a routine he needs both professionally and personally.
And with this newfound maturity and greater responsibility has come the confidence to speak out more and be more assertive – on and off the pitch.