Messi arrived on Wednesday morning ahead of Friday's Argentina-Venezuela friendly at the 120,000-seat Yuba Bharati stadium. Hundreds tried to pursue the footballer on motorbikes as he sped to his hotel from the airport.
Big-league Europe-based teams have turned their focus to Asia in a bid to boost revenues in recent years, with Manchester United chief among them with a planned $1 billion IPO in Singapore.
Other English Premier League (EPL) clubs have eyed India for branding, lured by the promise of one of the world's fastest growing economies and a huge youth population.
Some 60 million Indians tuned in to the English Premier League's 2009/10 season, roughly the same as Britain's entire population, according to ESPN STAR.
Kolkata, the formal capital of British-ruled India, is the country's football hub.
"It had to be Kolkata. Show me an Indian city more passionate about football," Dharamdutt Pandey, CEO of the event management company organising the Argentina-Venuezuela game, told Reuters.
"Apart from the Messi factor, the fact that it would be Argentina's first match under new coach [Alejandro] Sabella is sure to draw global attention."
Nearly 120,000 fans gave a rousing farewell to Oliver Kahn in the German goalkeeper's 2008 Bayern Munich swansong in Kolkata and former Argentina skipper Diego Maradona virtually brought the city to a standstill during his visit the same year.
"This kind of short-sightedness hurts me. Nearly 100,000 turn up for a derby match [between city rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan] in Kolkata.
"But because the crowd primarily comprises the lower income group, we didn't get enough sponsors," Dutta said.
"Things will change with this match. We will be able to attract fans from middle and upper income groups and sponsors are naturally excited because they can target the consumers.
"I now want to believe that India would play in the World Cup, maybe not in the next five editions but after that and definitely before I breathe my last."
