Messi joins Barcelona pre-season sooner than expected

Barcelona will be traveling to Saint George's Park in England to begin their pre-season before a friendly against Celtic in Dublin on July 30, and Lionel Messi has surprsied all by coming out and saying he will attend.
The 29-year-old had been on vacation after a busy summer with Argentina during the Copa America Centenario, and was not expected to join the Blaugrana until August.
However, with the player already back home in Castelldefels, just outside of Barcelona, he requested to be a part of Luis Enrique's 25-man squad making the trip to the United Kingdom.