On October 16, 2004 Leo Messi pulled on a Barcelona shirt for the first time wearing the Nike Air Zoom Total 90 III.
It’s hard to believe that today marks ten years since a 17-year-old Leo Messi made his first La Liga appearance for Barcelona. You see, the accompanying image isn’t just a moment of history, it’s a reminder (and a rather painful one at that) to Nike of what could have been. Wearing the number 30 shirt and his “Chrome/Black/Red" Nike Air Zoom Total 90 III boots, Messi’s La Liga debut came two years before he agreed a sponsorship deal with adidas.
Messi had originally signed with Nike at the age of 14, after his move from Newell’s Old Boys to Barcelona brought him to the attention of Nike’s scouts. After breaking into the first team Messi also made a number of appearances in the Tiempo Legend and Mercurial Vapor II before moving into the adidas +f50.6 TUNIT in March 2006. A reported £2million five-year endorsement deal offered by adidas was enough to prize the young lad away from his club sponsors and the rest, as they say, is history (or for Nike, infuriating).
