Messi was born on 24 June 1987[2] in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, to parents Jorge Horácio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner.[11][12][13][14] His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from where his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883.[15][16] He has two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and a sister, María Sol.[17] At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge.[18] In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.[18] He became part of a local youth powerhouse that lost only one match in the next four years and became locally known as "The Machine of '87", from the year of their birth.[19]
At the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.[20] Local team River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but were not willing to pay for treatment for his condition, which cost $900 a month.[14] Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, was made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida in western Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial with the team.[14] Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin.[21][22] Barcelona offered to pay Messi's medical bills on the condition that he moved to Spain. Messi and his father duly moved to Barcelona, where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy
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