Getty Lionel Messi and his Thiago and Mateo at the Camp Nou
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has been enjoying a kickabout with his family while on vacation and has been happy to show off his sons’ impressive skills in a video on Instagram.
The Messi family jetted off to Miami after Argentina’s Copa America win and then headed off to spend time in the Caribbean. Messi has been happy to share videos of his vacation on social media and his latest update shows him knocking the ball around with the caption “Crazy!”
Messi’s two sons are pictured playing with their famous father and it’s five-year-old Mateo who steals the show as you can see below.
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Messi Returns to Barcelona
Messi and his family jetted back into Barcelona on Thursday and were spotted landing at the airport and being welcomed back by the club’s security staff, as shown by ESPN’s Samuel Marsden.
The trip is just a flying visit with the family expected to spend a few more days on vacation somewhere in Europe before the 34-year-old gets back to work, according to Diario Sport’s Albert Masnou.
Messi is technically a free agent currently, after his Barcelona contract expired at the end of June, but is expected to put pen to paper on a new deal before he begins pre-season training on August 2.
Barcelona Squad in Germany For Training Camp
The Barcelona captain and his family jetted into the city just as the squad were heading out to a pre-season training camp in Germany. Coach Ronald Koeman has named a 25-man squad for the trip.
📍 Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper
💪 Let’s gooo!
First-teamers such as Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Martin Braithwaite, and Ronald Araujo have all been included in the traveling squad after returning to training this week following their exploits at Euro 2020 and the Copa America.
Yet the Barca coach has also included a host of youngsters for the trip such as Gavi, Nico Gonzalez, Yusuf Demir, Inaki Pena, and Alex Collado. The training camp allows the youngsters more training time with the first-team squad and the possibility of minutes in friendlies against Stuttgart and Red Bull Salzburg.
👥 The squad for Germany! 🇩🇪
Messi clearly won’t play in either fixture in Germany but could feature in the team’s final pre-season friendly on August 8. Serie A giants Juventus are the visitors to the Camp Nou in the Joan Gamper Trophy, and Messi could play if his new contract has been resolved by that time.
Still No Ilaix For Barcelona
There is one notable absentee from Barcelona’s pre-season training camp squad. Midfielder Ilaix Moriba is again absent as talks over a new contract with the Catalan giants continue.
Moriba is out of contract in 2022 and yet to agree an extension which has seen the midfielder dropped from the first-team squad ahead of the new campaign and forced to train with Barcelona B.
The teenager has also received racist abuse online amid the contract negotiations with the club. The midfielder shared a video of some of the shameful messages he has received which Barca shared on Twitter along with some supportive words.
We love football.
We fight racism.
🙏 @IlaixMK
More contract talks were held on Wednesday but an agreement has still not been found, according to Mundo Deportivo’s Ferran Martinez. More talks will be held but it’s still unclear if Moriba will agree to a new deal at the Camp Nou.
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