Along with his younger son Ciro, Lionel Messi plays for the Inter Miami Academy

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Lionel Messi’s son is just 10 years old, but he is ready to start his own soccer career.

With much less fanfare than the celebration Inter Miami gave to the arrival of Lionel Messi, the club quietly announced that his oldest son, Thiago Messi, has joined the franchise’s under-12 team with their youth academy.

The U-12 team is the youngest of Inter Miami’s five academy teams. While still new in the US, where young athletes are most often developed in schools and “travel” teams (e.g., AAU), European sports clubs have long actively developed young players through their own academies.

Thiago had not previously been associated with any academy while living in Europe. After one of his dad’s recent matches, he was spotted kicking a ball around on the field.