The football club will hold an open training session at the Hong Kong Stadium in Causeway Bay on Saturday and play a friendly match against a local select team the following day.

At the SFALO jersey shop in Mong Kok, staff Jason Chan said that customers started flocking to the store several weeks ago in search of Messi jerseys that were selling at prices ranging between HK$899 to HK$1,299 (US$115 to $166).

The shop had a stock of nearly 200 Messi jerseys from three months ago, which were sold out in many sizes, especially kid’s sizes.

“Normally it takes half a year to sell out,” Chan said. “But this time within three months we only have one to two left in stock. 70 per cent was sold in the past month.”

Local customers accounted for 70 per cent of the shop’s sales, while mainland Chinese customers also came to buy jerseys as the exchange rate in Hong Kong was better, he added.

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Lam Man-chun, owner of the No.7 Soccer jersey shop in Mong Kok, ramped up his stock of Messi jerseys by 50 per cent with a wider range of sizes and styles ahead of the match.

“In a typical year, January is considered the off-peak season for my business,” Lam said. “However, this year witnessed a 30 per cent surge in sales volume compared to previous years.”

Lam stocked up on 300 new Inter Miami jerseys a week ago, and by Thursday, over half of them had already been sold. He expected to sell out before the start of the Sunday match.

A traditional junk boat, with Messi’s face on its sails coloured in the club’s iconic pink shade, was also spotted sailing through Victoria Harbour this week.

Bus stops and LED screens across the city were also plastered with advertisements promoting the match.

The release of tickets for Miami’s game against a Hong Kong team, priced between HK$880 and HK$4,880, sparked a buying frenzy with the initial allocation selling out within an hour when sales opened in December.

The match will be broadcast in Hong Kong by Now TV. Olympian City and tmtplaza shopping malls will also be airing the match live on large screens this Sunday afternoon.

Harry Kwok was among the fans who bought the HK$4,880 ticket to watch the match.

The 30-year-old swimming coach has been a Messi fan since 2013 and bought two FC Barcelona shirts at Lam’s store Thursday and three pink Inter Miami jerseys to add to his collection of 20 Messi jerseys.

As a loyal fan, Kwok travelled around the world to watch Messi play, including in Beijing and South America.

“The last time Messi came to Hong Kong was 10 years ago, and I didn’t have the opportunity to see him then, so I’m extremely excited to be able to go this time.”

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To manage the crowds during the weekend, police announced on Thursday they would shut down roads around the stadium in Causeway Bay.

Chiu Chi-keung, chief inspector of traffic on Hong Kong Island, said that Caroline Hill Road, Eastern Hospital Road, Cotton Path, Sunning Road and Hoi Ping Road, as well as parts of Hysan Avenue and Link Road would be closed off to cars in phases starting from 2pm on Saturday and 12pm on Sunday.

Officers will also divert traffic to a pick-up and drop-off spot on Cotton Path.

“The force estimates that around 40,000 residents will head to the stadium each day,” he said.

Yau Chuen-fai, the divisional commander for Happy Valley, urged attendees to alight at Tin Hau MTR station to walk to the stadium and discouraged reckless fan behaviour.

“As the roads near the stadium are narrow, residents should keep in mind public safety and avoid chasing after the stars as it can be dangerous,” he said.

Yau added that officers would conduct checks on members of the public and forbid those without tickets from entering the vicinity of Cotton Path, Eastern Hospital Road and Caroline Hill Road.

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Leading up to the match, the Post found about 150 listings for tickets on online trading platform Carousell, with some users slashing off between HK$300 to $500 from the ticket’s original price.

One user, who put up a listing on Wednesday, said the two tickets priced at HK$2,980 for HK$5,000 were being sold at a 20 per cent discount.

The surge in listings ahead of the game was in contrast to the ticket sales in December, when scalpers inflated prices by two or three times on the same platform.