Lionel Messi, wife Antonela Roccuzzo and family had to make a difficult decision with their pet dog after his move to Inter Miami.
The Messi family welcomed Hulk, a Bordeaux Mastiff as a puppy back in 2016, with the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner overjoyed with the pooch and writing, “New member of my family. Thanks, love, for this beautiful gift" on his Instagram page.
Hulk has been part of the furniture and Messi formed a special bond, even posting a video of him rinsing him playing football.
The canine has developed into an absolute giant of dog, as the breed can grow 27 inches tall and ended up weighing a 110 pounds.
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He is now seven years old and unfortunately the life expectancy of Bordeaux Mastiff is usually between five and eight years.
That meant the Messi clan had a tough call to make on Hulk and ultimately elected to not bring him across the pond.
Hulk has therefore stayed back home near Barcelona, some 4,600 miles away from Messi's new £8.6 million Fort Lauderdale mansion.
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Instead, he is being looked after by staff at Messi's property in Castelldefels, around 11 miles away from Barcelona. It's a lot trickier visiting now as opposed to when Messi was playing in Paris but no doubt Hulk will be in good hands.
Speaking on OLGA, Migue Granados, who interviewed Messi, revealed: "I asked him where that bull was and he told me, ‘He's in Barcelona, Hulk is there. He is a little old. So, we had to leave him in the house we have there in Barcelona’.”
Granados also added that Messi told him Hulk is “on the verge” of potentially needing to put down because of his age.
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Messi and his family do have another dog with them in Miami, an apricot toy poodle that they named Abu back in 2020.
Granados joked about stealing it and holding it for ransom money during the interview.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, Barcelona
Josh Lawless