Lionel Messi, bienvenido a Miami. The Argentinian superstar is moving to Major League Soccer, signing for Inter Miami — the club part-owned by David Beckham.
Putting a rapid end to what looked set to be a summer of exhausting transfer talk, Messi has announced an agreement with Inter Miami just four days after his final Paris Saint-Germain game.
The 35-year-old finally completed his ultimate quest this season, lifting the World Cup for his nation with a clutch set of performances in the knockout stages in December. That glory came 18 months on from ending his international heartache by leading Argentina to a Copa America triumph.
At club level, he lifted another Ligue 1 title this term, but was booed by PSG fans during the trophy celebrations. Messi attracted the ire of the Parisian ultras throughout the second half of the campaign over a supposed lack of desire, alongside teammate Neymar.
He couldn’t help PSG to their long-awaited first Champions League crown, as they fell at the round-of-16 hurdle to Bayern Munich. Nonetheless, Messi racked up 21 goals and 20 assists across all competitions.
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It means the European chapter of his story ends as a three-time Champions League winner — in addition to lifting 12 league titles, seven domestic cups, 14 supercups and a record-breaking seven Ballons d’Or.
Messi will now make a switch to MLS, and specifically Inter Miami, who have been widely linked with a move for the Barcelona legend since their inception in 2020. He joins the likes of new owner Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Kaka and Steven Gerrard as superstars of the global game to have gone Stateside.
He told Spanish publication Sport: “I made the decision that I am going to go to Miami. I still don’t have it 100% closed, but we decided to continue the path there. I had offers from another European team, but I didn’t even evaluate it because in Europe my idea was only to go to Barcelona.
“After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, I had to go to the U.S. league to experience soccer in a different way and enjoy the day-to-day. Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to want to win and always do things well. But with more calm.”
Messi was reportedly the subject of an eye-watering offer from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Pro League having already lured long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo during the winer. His salary in the Middle East was supposedly set to hit £434 million ($548m) per year.
On rejecting that offer in favour of MLS, the playmaker continued: “If it had been a question of money, I would have gone to Arabia or somewhere else. It seemed like a lot of money and the truth is that my decision was for the other side and not for the money.”
The club of his heart is of course Barcelona, whom he joined as a young boy with growth hormone deficiency and left as arguably the sport’s greatest ever player. That departure in 2021 came under a cloud, however, as the Catalan giants’ horrendous financial mismanagement caught up with them.
With a mooted Camp Nou reunion now not happening, Messi revealed: “The truth is that obviously I was very eager, very excited to be able to return.
“But, on the other hand, after having lived through what I went through and the exit I had, I did not want to be in the same situation again: waiting to see what was going to happen and leave my future in someone else’s hands, so to speak. I wanted to make my own decision, thinking of myself, of my family.
“Although I heard that La Liga had accepted everything and that everything was fine for me to return, there were still a lot of other things that needed to happen. I heard that they had to sell players or lower the salaries of players and the truth is that I did not want to go through that.
“I was already accused of a lot of things that were not true in my career at Barcelona and I was a little tired. I did not want to go through all that. I was afraid that the same thing would happen again. Although I would have loved to [return], it was not possible.
“I am also in a moment where I want to get out of the spotlight a bit, to think more about my family. I spent two years with my family in such a bad way [in Paris] that I did not enjoy it.
“I had that month which was spectacular for me because I won the World Cup, but apart from that it was a difficult period for me. I want to get back to enjoy myself, to enjoy my family, my children, the day to day, and that’s why I decided not to go to Barcelona.
🔥 “He’d wreck the league and score 30-40 goals.”
😳 “The physicality, the travel… I see a struggle.”@SimonBorg and @the_bonnfire debate whether Lionel Messi will be a success at Inter Miami 👇 pic.twitter.com/Vcbb5Kx0Qj
— Sporting News Football Club (@sn_footballclub) June 7, 2023
“I don’t know [how strongly they tried to sign me]. The truth, honestly, I don’t know if they have done everything possible or not. I knew what I was talking to Xavi about: they had, by all accounts, got permission from the league to do it. But I tell you, it was not only that. Many things were missing.
“The club, today, was not in a position to assure me 100% that I could return. And it is understandable, because of the situation the club is going through.
“[The exit from Barcelona is still] a little, yes, a little [open wound]. Because of what I was saying before. For not being able to say goodbye to the people as I would have liked. As I think I would have deserved.
“There had been an ugly rumour. I had been the bad guy in the movie and I didn’t like that either because it hadn’t been like that. That’s why I would like to have at some point a real farewell with the people we lived and enjoyed and suffered so much. There were so many years together, and I would like to say goodbye as I feel it.”
Attention will now turn to Messi’s availability in MLS, and how long a break he will be afforded after a lengthy campaign across the Atlantic. Inter Miami are already midway through their season, with the North American division running on a calendar year basis.
‘Vice City’ are struggling greatly, sitting bottom of the Eastern Conference with just 15 points from 16 points. Manager Phil Neville was relieved of his duties last week, after a run of five straight losses in the league.
Gerardo Martino — who previously managed Messi with both Barcelona and Argentina — has been heavily linked with the vacant post. Martino has experience of winning with a relatively new franchise, having guided Atlanta United to MLS Cup glory in 2018, in only their second season.
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