How Argentina’s new youth policy could have changed Messi’s path

January 5, 2026 Oliver Obel

Argentina’s football authorities are preparing to enforce a youth policy designed to protect domestic clubs from losing young players too early, a move that has intensified debate over how talent should be developed and compensated in an increasingly global market.

The measure, which would apply only to youth national teams, is intended to discourage prospects from leaving the country for Europe without first signing a professional contract with an Argentine club. Although the rule is aimed at current and future players, it has also prompted reflection on how similar restrictions might have altered the early careers of past stars including Lionel Messi.

According to One Football, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) plans to stop selecting youth internationals who relocate abroad without securing a professional deal at home. The policy is designed to strengthen the position of local academies that invest in player development but often receive little or no compensation when teenagers move overseas.

Football platform Rising Ballers outlined the reasoning behind the approach in a social media post, focusing on transfers made under parental authority, known in Argentina as patria potestad.

“Argentina will stop calling up to its youth national teams any player who moves to Europe without first signing a professional contract in Argentina,” Rising Ballers wrote.

“Players that leave on a free transfer won’t receive national team call-ups due to ‘patria potestad’, which protects the interests of youth-developing clubs.”

Messi’s own path offers a clear illustration of how such a rule would function in practice. As a teenager, he left Argentina to join Barcelona without signing a professional contract with Newell’s Old Boys. Under the proposed framework, that decision would have made him ineligible for Argentina’s youth national teams during a key stage of his development.

Observers have cited the example not as a criticism of Messi’s move, but as a reminder that even well-intentioned regulations can have far-reaching consequences for exceptional talents.

Now 38, Messi is widely regarded as one of football’s greatest players, having enjoyed a career spanning Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain and Inter Miami. His honours include multiple Champions League titles, a record eight Ballon d’Or awards, and captaining Argentina to World Cup victory in 2022.

AFA youth director Javier Méndez Cartier has defended the policy, arguing that it prioritises the sustainability of Argentine clubs.

“By decision of our President and his Executive Committee, this AFA administration always seeks to defend the interests of the clubs that develop players,” Méndez Cartier said.

“Anyone who does not understand this and chooses to use parental rights to emigrate will not be called up to any youth national team.”

While the rule would not affect eligibility for Argentina’s senior side, it underscores the broader tension facing football authorities worldwide as they attempt to balance domestic development with the realities of a globalised talent market.

Sources: One Football, Rising Ballers