Highlights

  • Lionel Messi's style of play has remained consistent throughout his career, with his incredible dribbling skills and goal-scoring ability.
  • Messi's early years at Newell's Old Boys showcased his exceptional talent, scoring an impressive 234 goals in 176 matches.
  • Newell's Old Boys played a significant role in producing the greatest footballer of all time, and they should be proud of Messi's achievements.

Lionel Messi has always been a phenomenally talented footballer. We’ve all seen the grainy footage showing a tiny Messi dribbling past multiple opponents before scoring goals when he was a kid growing up in Rosario, Argentina.

His style of play hasn’t changed much over the past 25-30 years. Messi still dribbles past opponents for fun and scores goals at will. The Argentine was picked up by Newell’s Old Boys in 1994 when he was just six years old. He remained with Newell’s, the club he still supports today, until 2000.

Messi then moved to Barcelona at the tender age of 13 and the rest is history. He is now widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time and has won just about every major honour - team and individual - you can think of. Even despite his time at Paris Saint-Germain being viewed overall as a failure, the Argentine genius still added to his already stacked trophy cabinet with two league titles.

The Barcelona icon moved to Inter Miami in the summer of 2023, bringing his European career to a close after winning every trophy available to him at club level as well as a staggering number of individual honours. The one trophy which threatened to forever elude him was the World Cup. He came agonisingly close to lifting football’s most prestigious piece of silverware in 2014, but the 36-year-old finally got his hands on the biggest international prize in Qatar during the 2022 iteration of the tournament.

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Messi's goals for Newell's Old Boys

He scored 234 goals in total for the Argentine club

Lionel Messi wearing a Newell's Old Boys shirt

Messi has scored a ridiculous number of goals during his illustrious career: 672 for Barcelona, 32 for PSG, 11 for Inter Miami, and 106 more for Argentina (at the time of writing) - but how many did he net during his spell with Newell’s? The exact numbers were never officially known, until they were uncovered in 2020.

Miguel Martínez, who was the press officer for the Asociación Rosarina de Fútbol, carefully analysed the records of every match Messi played in between the ages of six and 12. And Argentine publication Ole published the findings. Each of Messi's seasons for the Argentine club have been compiled below.

1994

In his first year at Newell’s, six-year-old Messi netted 40 goals in just 29 games. A stunning first year for the youngster.

1995

The following year, he scored 35 goals in 30 games. It may have been less than the year prior, but that record is still superb.

1996

At the age of eight, Messi played 27 games and found the net 36 times. To score more than his 1995 tally in fewer games shows the evolution of Messi, one step closer to becoming the monster we all know in 2024.

1997

Then, aged nine, he bagged 40 goals in 36 games. Central A were the only team he played against twice without scoring against them.

1998

He played fewer games aged 10 - the records don’t state why - but he still managed to average more than one goal every game, netting 27 in 25 appearances.

1999

But his final year was by far his most prolific. Messi, aged 11, scored a magnificent 55 goals in 29 games as Newell’s ended the season undefeated, winning 26 and drawing three of their fixtures.

Lionel Messi - Newell's Old Boys Statistics

Year

Games

Goals

Goals per game

1994

29

40

1.38

1995

30

35

1.17

1996

27

36

1.33

1997

36

40

1.11

1998

25

27

1.08

1999

29

55

1.90

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In total, Messi scored 234 goals in 176 matches for Newell’s. It was patently clear from a very early age that Messi was destined for greatness. Below is a video of the beginning of the wonderful attacker's career, with his mesmerising ability on the ball already being present from a very young age.

Lionel Messi - 30 years later

Newell's helped to produce the greatest footballer ever

Lionel Messi celebrates scoring for Inter Miami

It has now been three decades since Messi's first year on record (1994) and it's safe to say the Argentinian has exceeded any expectations that could have been placed on him all those years ago. At 36 years old, he boasts an astonishing trophy cabinet that includes many league titles, domestic cups, and four Champions League trophies.

In terms of individual success, Messi is by far and away the man with the most Ballon d'Or awards. The 2022 World Cup winner has been handed the greatest personal accolade in the sport on eight separate occasions, with the most recent coming in 2023. Newell's Old Boys produced the greatest football player of all time, and they can be extremely proud of that fact and what Messi has gone on to achieve.