Lionel Messi has announced the arrival of his third child after Barcelona had announced earlier in the day that he had withdrawn from the squad to face Malaga.
The Blaugrana alerted the public early in the day on Saturday that their star player would not make the trip to La Rosaleda with the rest of the squad due to 'personal reasons', reports Goal.com.
Messi announced in October of 2017 that his wife, Antonella, was pregnant again, leading fans to suspect that the birth of his third child was the reason for his exclusion from the squad.
The 30-year-old has since confirmed those suspicions, taking to Instagram to let fans know that his newborn son, named Ciro, and the child's mother had both come through with no issues and that his family are all happy and healthy: “Welcome Ciro! Thank God everything went perfect. Mom and he are very well. We are super happy!”
Messi already had two sons, Mateo and Thiago.