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Messi Chooses MLS’ Inter Miami Over Barcelona, Saudi League

Asli Pelit
·3 min read

Lionel Messi said he intends to sign with Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF, which beat out FC Barcelona and the Saudi Arabian soccer league for the Argentine superstar’s services.

Messi announced the news of his move in an interview with Spanish outlets Mundo Deportivo and Sport. Last Thursday, former Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier confirmed the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner would not be returning to the club when his two-year, $32 million-per-year contract is up. (He turned down the option to renew for a third year.)

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Messi did not reveal any details about his contract, saying: “I still haven’t closed it 100%. I’m missing some things, but we decided to continue the path.”

Representatives from MLS released a statement, saying: “We are pleased that Lionel Messi has stated that he intends to join Inter Miami CF and Major League Soccer this summer.  Although work remains to finalize a formal agreement, we look forward to welcoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time to our League.”

With his Miami move, Messi will be working for another global soccer icon, David Beckham. When Beckham joined MLS’ LA Galaxy in 2007, the English star’s contract included revenue sharing and a unique ownership clause that gave him the right to a franchise for $25 million. Today Beckham owns Inter Miami with Jorge and Jose Mas, who run the South Florida construction and engineering firm MasTec. Ares Management Corporation also has a $150 million preferred equity investment in the team.

Speculation has swirled for the better part of a year about where Messi would land after his contract with PSG expired. Inter Miami is the 10th most valuable team in MLS, worth $585 million, according to Sportico‘s 2022 valuations.

Messi joined PSG in 2021 after leaving Barcelona, his club for 20 years. The soccer star won 34 trophies, including 10 LaLiga titles, seven Copa Del Rey titles and three UEFA Champions League trophies with Barca. After coming under criticism for disappointing results in international competitions with the Argentina national team, he capped his career by winning the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup with his country.

PSG suspended the player for two weeks for missing training while he was fulfilling his sponsorship contract as a Saudi tourism ambassador in Saudi Arabia on May 2. Back in April, ESPN reported that Saudi Arabian soccer team Al Hilal, the rival club where Cristiano Ronaldo plays, had made an offer to Messi to join the team next season.

Earlier this week, Messi’s father met with Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta and told reporters the player wanted to return to Barça and he confirmed the Catalan team was an option.

The 35-year-old Argentine is the seventh highest-paid athlete of all time, according to Sportico, with $1.22 billion in career earnings. His current deal with Adidas is worth an estimated $20 million a year.

(This story has been updated in the headline to clarify that Messi has not yet signed with Inter Miami CF, and with a statement from MLS.)

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