How Barcelona's $900 Investment Helped Lionel Messi Overcome Growth Hormone Deficiency

Lionel Messi is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, but his incredible career was almost over before it even started. The Argentine superstar had to deal with a serious medical condition that could have jeopardized his growth and football career long before he won the Ballon d'Or and World Cup.

Messi was clearly smaller than other kids his age around the age of 10. Eventually, he was diagnosed with a medical condition called Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD), which is a lack of growth hormone in the body that affects normal physical development.

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The diagnosis was not only a medical problem for his family, but also a financial one.

Lionel Messi's Growth Hormone Deficiency Explained

Once GHD was diagnosed, Messi started an intensive period of synthetic growth hormone therapy. He had to receive regular injections, sometimes nightly, and was essential to his normal development.

The treatment was, however, very expensive. The cost of treatment is estimated to be between $900 and $1,000 a month, which was too much for Messi's family to afford. His boyhood club, Newell's Old Boys, provided some help, but the family had to find long-term financial assistance to keep the injections going.

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The treatment was also challenging. Messi had to inject himself with painful injections into his legs every night for years and keep to a strict regimen to make the treatment work.

How Barcelona Changed Messi's Life

All that changed when Barcelona scouts spotted Messi in 2000 during a trial. Barcelona saw his potential and not only did they let him join the club's famed youth academy, La Masia, but they also paid for the rest of his medical treatment after he arrived in Spain at the age of 13.

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That was a life-changing decision. Over time, Messi grew to an adult height of about 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm). Most importantly, the therapy enabled him to build up normal bone density and muscle development, providing him with the physical basis to play at the highest level of professional soccer. If not for the treatment, the Argentine star would have been 4 feet 7 inches tall.

Barcelona's investment was not limited to football. The club's financial support of Messi's treatment helped clear the biggest hurdle between Messi and his dream of becoming a professional player. The rest, as they say, is history.

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