ไทย
English
中國人
Disney has made a surprising announcement, naming Lionel Messi as executive producer of a new animated series inspired, in the broadest terms, by the life of Argentina's departing legend.
Messi's journey through football carries an almost mythical quality. He stands as the national team's unquestioned icon, having leapt from the bedroom posters of countless childhood fans to guide Argentina to four straight major tournament finals.
As the 39-year-old prepares to close his chapter with a farewell friendly against Benin on Tuesday evening, Disney has greenlit a new show titled: Messi and the Giants.
The series, slated for a summer 2027 release, follows a 12-year-old boy sporting the familiar dark, curly hair Messi wore in his younger years. At that stage of his real life, Messi was still living in Argentina, barely over four feet tall, while his family struggled to persuade Newell's Old Boys to cover the cost of his growth hormone treatment.
The animated version of Lionel, however, finds himself stranded in an alternate virtual world, battling enormous monsters in elaborate situations that conveniently call for his soccer abilities. A rather different kind of challenge.
While lending his image to a children's series is one way to spend retirement, Messi appears to have considerably bigger aspirations for life after football.
What Will Lionel Messi Do After Retiring From Soccer?
Messi via IG: "Aupa Deportivo." pic.twitter.com/bJqsxWi3RD
Messi has already dismissed one of the most well-trodden paths for retired players. "I don't really see myself as a manager," he has stated on several occasions.
That may well be a shrewd call. Very few truly elite players have successfully made the leap into management. Carlo Ancelotti, a gifted player in his own right but not in Messi's league, cautioned: "It is a completely different job—your career as a player won't help as a manager."
For someone as extraordinarily talented as Messi — a player who seems to see the entire pitch from above at all times — translating his instinctive understanding of the game to a group of ordinary players could prove deeply frustrating.
Nevertheless, Messi has no intention of walking away from football altogether. "I would like to have my own club," he revealed earlier this year, "to start from the bottom and be able to give the opportunity to the boys, to the people, to grow and make an important club."
That vision is already taking shape. Messi recently purchased Spanish second-division club Eldense, having previously acquired fifth-tier side UE Cornellà back in April.
Messi also holds a stake in Deportivo LSM, an amateur Uruguayan club co-founded by his Inter Miami teammate and longtime friend Luis Suárez.