Lionel Messi's son set to join Barcelona youth program

While every club stumbles over one another to sign "the next Lionel Messi," Barcelona have gone ahead and literally added the genuine article. Messi's son, Thiago, is set to join Barcelona's youth ranks, according to reports in Spain.

Thiago, who turns four in November, will join the FCBEscola pilot program at Barca, which caters to kids between ages three to five. The new program is open to the children of all Barcelona employees, meaning it could just be more of a glorified (albeit fun!) daycare center for kids, but the groundwork for Thiago is there.

So, despite Messi saying that Thiago "doesn't like football" earlier this week, it looks like there's still hope that the youngster could follow in dad's footsteps. And what better place to try and do that than at Barcelona?

The Blaugrana have found their "next Messi." Now, can rivals Real Madrid find themselves the "next Cristiano Ronaldo?"

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