Lionel Messi‘s kids are excited to follow in his footsteps. The soccer legend is the father of three boys: Thiago, 13, Mateo, 10, and Ciro, 8. His eldest plays for Inter Miami, the club that has made Messi one of Miami’s biggest socialites. In a new interview, he’s addressing rumors that Thiago might be moving to Barcelona to play in La Masia, the storied soccer club that built Messi’s career.
The rumors had been swirling online for some time and were brought up before Inter Miami’s League Cup game against Atletico San Luis. “Is Thiaguito leaving?” asked a journalist.
“No,” said Messi.
Thiago has been playing for Inter Miami since 2023, where he plays as a midfielder. Thiago is “more thoughtful, organized, and more middle-oriented,” said Messi in an interview with Simplemente Futbol.
This summer, Thiago won the 2026 MIC Football champion, showing that his soccer journey is headed in the right direction from Miami.
Thiago has been playing soccer for years
While unexpected, the rumors don’t come from nowhere. Thiago has played in Barcelona before. From 2016 to 2019, he played at Barça Escola, while his father served as Barcelona’s captain. Later, he played in Paris Saint-Germain, where his dad played for two seasons before deciding to cross the pond and start anew in the US.
The rumors were likely kickstarted by his age and soccer triumphs. He’s 13 years old and has a few soccer trophies to his name. His story draws parallels to his father’s who left Rosario, Argentina at the same age for Barcelona, building a soccer career that continues to determine the fate of the sport.
© dpa/picture alliance via Getty IOn July, Messi led Argentina to the World Cup finals, losing to Spain. In a post made on Instagram, he spoke openly about how painful the moment was and how proud he was of his team.
“The pain is too big and it’s gonna take a while to heal this wound, but I’m also keeping all of the good things… I’m keeping all of the games where we made a comeback, leaving it all on the field, that will stay with me forever, with the support of an entire country that led us to be one of the best in the world,” he wrote in Spanish.
“Today, it’s hard to value what we achieved, but this group has made it to two consecutive World Cup finals.”
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