Barcelona's technical staff all agreed - the little Argentine kid who had just completed a trial for the Spanish club was one of the most exciting prospects they had seen.

"Excellent shooting ability, extremely fast with the ball at his feet, low centre of gravity that gives him great balance on the move, intelligent and mentally astute," read their report.

It was early October 2000 and the talented 13-year-old about to win a coveted place at the club's youth academy was future double World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.

Now 24, Messi is the most famous product of the academy known as "La Masia" after the quaint 18th-century Catalan stone farmhouse next to the Nou Camp stadium where a handful of recruits were housed until earlier this year.