Get to know the GOAT: 5 books about Lionel Messi

Words often fail to describe some of the things that Messi manages to do on the football field when he is at his best but they have tried to capture his life and genius a number of times. In case you get swept up by all the Messi mania of the coming days and feel like reading a book or two about the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, here are five our best picks, in no particular order:

Messi by Luca Caioli

Messi by Luca Caioli captures the star before he became a sensation. (Source: amazon.in)

A biography that has been updated numerous times, Luca Caioli is known to capture the stories of players before they become famous and that is exactly what he manages to do in this. Caioli’s book features interviews with Messi’s first coach. That is among the earliest interactions in it and it goes on until it ends with an interview with the man himself. Caioli also provides the political and cultural backdrop to each part of the football star’s life, starting with the crumbling of Raul Alfonsin’s time as Argentina’s president and the chaos that accompanied it when Messi was born in June 1987.

Messi by Guillem Balague

Messi by Guillem Balague is one of the most intimate books on the star. (Source: amazon.in)

Guillem Balague is a popular Spanish football journalist and television personality and is known to be someone with unprecedented access to Messi’s inner circle. In fact, some treat him as a member of said inner circle itself. The updated version of Balague’s book has details of Messi’s rather tumultuous transfer from Barcelona to PSG and his recent move to the USA where he now plays for Inter Miami.

The Barcelona Complex – Lionel Messi and the making – and unmaking – of the World’s greatest soccer club by Simon Kuper

The Barcelona Complex focusses on the club that shaped Messi. (Source: amazon.in)

This book may not be about Messi himself but it is about the club that he will forever be associated with, and the impact he had on it. Messi was the soul of two great Barcelona teams – the first constructed by Pep Guardiola which is still regarded as the greatest team of all time in club football, and the second led by Luis Enrique in which Messi shone along with Neymar and Luis Suarez up front. Simon Kuper’s book analyses the club’s structure which ultimately gave rise to teams like those. It also speaks about two of the most important figures in the club’s recent history – the Dutch great Johan Cruyff, and Messi himself.

Messigraphica: A graphic biography of the genius of Lionel Messi by Sanjeev Shetty

Messigraphica offers a visual insight into the star’s genious. (Source: amzon.in)

If graphics, bright colours and photographs are your thing, this is the book for you. Messigraphica acts as somewhere between a regular novel and a graphic novel. As stated earlier, words can often fail to describe the things that Messi does on the field and so this book tries to give a visual picture of his genius as well.

Lionel Messi: Soccer Star by Derek Moon

If your child is a fan, get them Lionel Messi: Soccer Star by Derek Moon. (Source: amazon.in)

This is one for the kids. Just over 30 pages long, Derek Moon tells the story of the football icon in a way that would be palatable to kids under around the age of 10. It is filled with colourful photos, facts, maps of places that are important to Messi’s life and career and so on.