Messi opens up on painful decision he & Antonela made to leave behind their dog

Lionel Messi's move to the MLS came with the costly pain of having to leave the family's pet Bordeaux Mastiff at his home in Barcelona.

The decision to leave behind Hulk was due in part to the seven-year-old mutt's health, Argentine comedian Migue Granados revealed this weekend after recording an interview with the 2023 World Cup champion at his home in Miami.

Granados learned of the family decision after joking that he was going to stuff Abu, their pet poodle, into a backpack and ask for a large ransom following last Thursday's interview for his program on OLGA, a streaming network.

But he was surprised that Hulk was nowhere to be seen.

'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 shared.

The 36-year-old Messi welcomed Hulk into the family as a pup in 2016, sharing a picture of him hugging the pooch on Instagram.

'New member of my family,' Messi wrote at the time. 'Thanks, love, for this beautiful gift.'

He and his wife Antonela Roccuzzo regularly shared pictures and videos of the dog on social media, but haven't done so since 2021 when Messi was playing for PSG and traveled back to Spain to recover from an injury.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner took into consideration the amount of stress the cross-continent move in July would take on Hulk at this point in his life.

Messi told Granados that Hulk 'is on the verge' of perhaps needing to be put to sleep.

Bordeaux Mastiffs can grow to be 27 inches tall and weigh 110 pounds. They have a life span of five to eight years, although some make it to 11.

For now, Hulk is being looked after by the staff at the luxurious home in Castelldefels, a suburb 12 miles away from Cam Nou. Messi, meanwhile, has become the face of MLS in the US as he plays for Inter Miami CF.

During the interview, Messi shared the family wakes up on school days at 7am for a group breakfast and drops off his three sons, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.

He and his wife then return home for a nap or to catch up on their favorite shows. On other days he heads over for a morning workout with Inter Miami.  Around 3pm they both pick up the children before taking Thiago and Mateo to soccer practice at the club's academy.

Messi also revealed the possibility of expanding the family.

'We would like,' he said. 'We are not in the search, but we would like it if the girl arrives.'