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WHAT IF… Messi never received Human Growth Hormone?

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It isn’t difficult to see that Lionel Messi isn’t the most physically imposing of all players, standing at just 5ft 7in. Yet Messi could’ve been much smaller. As legend will tell you, an incredibly talented Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency aged 11 while playing for home side Newell’s Old Boys.  With the cost of the medical treatment already deterring Argentinean giants River Plate from signing the youngster, Spanish side Barcelona offered to pay for it on the condition that he move to Spain and join the club’s academy, to which he duly obliged.

He was seen as a gem, with the cost seemingly nothing compared to the riches available at the Camp Nou. Receiving HGH while developing through La Masia, Messi broke into the first team and has established himself as arguably the greatest player to ever grace the game at the tender age of 25.

What might’ve been?

Despite his undoubted talent, Barcelona and a host of other European clubs opt against signing the young Argentine through fear that he will struggle to adapt to the physical demands of playing top level, Champions League football. With other, local clubs unable to afford his treatment, Messi remains at Newell’s Old Boys.

Yet as he grows older, his teammates and opponents grow in physical statue; Messi, unfortunately, remains the size of a child. Regularly bullied off of the ball, he is unable to establish himself as a worthwhile player, picking up many injuries along the way. At just 22 years of age, a disappointed Leo decides to retire and instead establishes his own circus (Cirque du Soleil-o Messi).

With Messi never signing for Barcelona, the club is left with a very serious problem. In reality, Messi scored 73 goals last season; their next highest scorer had only 15. So while Barcelona possess the incredible talents of Xaviesta and Fabregas using their ‘tiki-taka’ to pass opposition teams to death, they have no one to finish the moves and score the goals. This is certainly a problem, as Thierry Henry offers to explain: ‘Sometimes in football you have to score goals’. Thanks Thierry.

Barcelona’s lack of goals mean that they struggle to actually pick up many victories, yet rivals Real Madrid begin to flourish, winning consecutive titles and establishing their dominance as La Liga’s best team. One player in particular benefits personally from Messi’s absence: Cristiano Ronaldo. Without the little Argentine in the frame, Ronaldo is the best player in the world by a country mile, and wins the World Player of the Year award 10 years in a row; quite a feat.

Yet while he is certainly the best, something is lacking from Ronaldo’s game. Without Messi there to push him as they both vie for the number one status, Ronaldo’s game suffers, and he averages a quite dismal 40 goals a season. What a load of rubbish…

Meanwhile in Argentina, every attacking player who debuts as a teenager and scores a goal at some point during their first three seasons is dubbed ‘the new Maradona’ but, like every ‘new Maradona’ before Messi’s claim for the tag, fails to live up to it.

What do you think of this article? I have more ‘what ifs’ (I realise that I have said ‘what if’ a lot of times now… sorry) that I have considered, and thus if this article is generally well received, I would happily write a follow up with some more. Or even better, suggest some ‘what ifs’ to me in the comments box! TELL ME! Nonetheless I hope you have enjoyed this read, as always please drop my Facebook page a like too, www.facebook.com/thefootballwriter. That would be grand! Cheers!

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  • buj8068 says:

    Coming out with a nonsensical, fictional article and you name yourself “thefootballwriter”? Why not Hans Christen T*rd? That’s more suitable, no?

    What makes you think he won’t be able to compete at the highest level if any club are willing to hire him? With his lower center of gravity, his same agile style on the ball, he’ll easily drifts past defenders. All he needs to do is beef up himself ala Maradona who is shorter than he is now.

    So, what do I think of your article? A piece of CRAP!

  • This was intended as a tongue in cheek, not to be taken seriously article. Of course I know Messi has many qualities, and that his height probably still wouldn’t be an issue, but it was intended to be light hearted and mostly as a joke; not a deadly serious article. I’d hoped that came across in my style of writing but apologies for if you didn’t see the humour in it.

  • buj8068 says:

    Well I must apologize then.

    It’s just that his HGH treatment has always been used to denigrate him. And I find it loathsome that anyone would want to use that to belittle his abilities when his playing style has never change since he was still a little kid.

    His lack of height has never hindered his ability in dribbling past and scoring goals against boys bigger and taller than him before he got his treatment so there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be able to do it now, even if he’s short.

    Anyway HGH treatment for kids is not wrong, and it doesn’t improve his abilities in whatsoever way. Even with treatment, he’s still short when compared to the average professional footballers today

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