Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi said he would like to have a club when he retires from football, in an interview published on Tuesday by a broadcasting channel in his country.

He also spoke about his family life, his personality and even his tastes in drinks.

In an interview with Luzu TV, he also spoke about his introspective nature, his habit of confronting his own mistakes, and his personal tastes, including his love of wine.

He also recalled his temporary retirement from the Argentine national team after losing three consecutive finals and stressed the importance of never giving up in the face of adversity.

“Honestly, I don’t see myself as a coach, I like the idea of ​​being a manager, but if I have to choose one of the three, I prefer to be an owner,” Messi said in the interview recorded at the end of December.

“I would like to have my own club... that starts from the bottom and is able to give children, people, the opportunity to grow and create an important club,” added the 38-year-old Messi, smiling more than in most of his media interactions.

In May 2025, Messi, who has not yet decided whether to participate in the 2026 World Cup, took the first steps in that direction by joining the Deportivo LSM club as a partner, a project of his close friend Luis Suarez, which competes in the lower divisions of Uruguayan football.

Messi recently launched the Messi Cup, an under-16 youth tournament that featured eight academy teams from around the globe, playing in Miami, in hopes of developing talent and competition.

River Plate won the inaugural edition of the Messi Cup in December. For now, Messi will continue to stay focused on matters on the field as a player with defending MLS Cup champions Inter Miami, kicking off the 2026 campaign on February 21 on the road against LAFC.

During the interview, Messi also provided details about his relationship with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and assured that he is romantic although not very demonstrative.

“I have my share of being more of a weirdo than anything else.

"I really like being alone. The mess at home with the three kids running around everywhere ends up saturating me and I like a moment of solitude,” he said, admitting that he is “very structured.”

When asked what things made him feel strange, he referred the question to his partner.

“Antonella can say many more things than I can, it depends on my mood on many things, on small stupid things,” he said.

“I tend to bottle things up, keep it all inside and swallow my problems; I’ve changed a lot, but I’m still like that,” added the Inter Miami captain, who admitted he went to therapy because of his personality when he played for Barcelona.

He also talked about himself when things weren’t going well.

“I had a lot of bad games where I was a disaster, or I missed one-on-ones, goals, and I said all sorts of things to myself. I cursed myself a lot.”

Messi also referred to the moment when he left the Albiceleste national team after losing three consecutive finals between 2014 and 2016.

“I felt very bad because I watched the national team matches and I wanted to die. Thank God I was able to come back.”

“The best example is never to give up, to keep trying. Whatever it is. If you fall, get up and try again. And if it doesn’t work, know that you have done everything possible to achieve your dream,” the Argentine stressed.

Messi also addressed his relationship with technology, admitting he does not use AI tools like ChatGPT.

“Not because I’m against it, I just haven’t gotten into it,” he said, adding that his wife relies on it far more than
he does.

Messi also spoke about his reluctance to dance, which he only does when he's "drunk", and said his favourite alcoholic drink is wine, which he sometimes mixes with Sprite "to make it act faster".