At 18, most of us are asked to plot our lives.
Do we go to college? If so, which one? What do we study? Where will we be in 10 years' time? Twenty? Will we live to old age?
It's that time when the slate is generally clear and we're allowed to dream.
In the fall of 2005, Barcelona
sat down with Lionel Messi for the first "adult" contract talks. He was
18 years old and this was his first full season with the first team.
The previous year, he had made his Champions League and La Liga
debut and scored his first goal. That summer he made his debut for
Argentina and, despite being two years younger than most of the
competition, he led the Albiceleste to the Under-20 World Cup title as the tournament's top goal-scorer and best player.
Both parties wanted a long-term deal. Messi's father, Jorge, insisted
on one that ended in 2013. Barcelona pushed for an extra season, 2014,
and eventually got their way. (Since then, obviously, he's had contract
extensions galore.)
The tale, recounted in Guillem Balague's biography of Messi, is
telling. Why the emphasis on 2013? Because Messi and his family knew
very well what was coming up in 2014: The World Cup. And not just any,
but one which would -- at age 27 -- see Messi at the peak of his power.
If something went wrong -- if injury or personal disputes or whatever
meant that his time at Barcelona wasn't going to work out -- he would
retain the option of becoming a free agent in June 2013 and choose a
club where he could get playing time and arrive fully prepared to the
2014 World Cup.
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