Messi was already quite old, and at thirty-two, he was considered elderly for an athlete.
Even now, Messi's dominance on the pitch was nowhere near as strong as it had been at his peak.
With surgery and two years away from the sport, whether he could even return to the field had become a question.
Many experts had even predicted that Barcelona was completely "Messi-less" in this year's Champions League.
Betting on Barça had also plummeted, with the odds dropping frighteningly low.
After Jiang Siming read the news, he habitually tugged on Zhao Xiaoxiao's little braids. After thinking it over, he finally picked up his phone and called Li Chunlan, asking her to notify Madrid Airport in Spain that he was planning to make a trip there.
After all, Messi was a player on his own team. His importance to Barça was like Kobe's importance to the Lakers back then—something they could not do without.
Besides, if Barça were eliminated from the Champions League early because of this, they would earn less broadcasting revenue, and the current sharp drop in Barça's odds would hurt as well.
As the owner, he would suffer losses too.
For both emotional and practical reasons, Jiang Siming planned to make a trip to Barça.
As soon as Zhao Xiaoxiao heard Jiang Siming say over the phone that he was going to Spain, even her potato chips suddenly lost their appeal.
"Dad, I want to go too~ I'm on vacation already. It's not too much to go out and have some fun, right?"
Jiang Siming did not refuse. Instead, he said, "Then go ask your mothers if they want to come."
"Okay!" Zhao Xiaoxiao excitedly ran off to tell all her mothers about it.
However, the mothers said that none of them wanted to go.
The