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Lionel Messi's agent shuts down Inter Miami, MLS rumors: He 'has not yet decided'

Lionel Messi, at least for now, isn’t ready to make the jump to MLS.

A report on Tuesday said that the Paris Saint-Germain star was planning to purchase 35% of Inter Miami for more than $200 million and then play for the David Beckham-run team once his contract expires in 2023.

Such a jump to one of MLS’s newest teams would be incredible, and make him the biggest star to ever join the league.

Messi’s agent, though, shut that down.

“Leo has not yet decided on his future,” his agent told Le Parisien, via TMZ Sports. “And if Leo Messi has crossed paths with David Beckham in the past few hours, it is only as part of PSG/s stay in Doha where the former English midfielder plays a role as an ambassador for the next World Cup in Qatar.”

Messi joined PSG last year on a two-year deal worth more than $35 million a year. The Argentinian had spent his entire 17-year career with FC Barcelona before making the jump to France’s top league, and he won 10 LaLiga titles and four Champions League titles. He had agreed to a five-year deal with Barcelona before leaving, but the club was unable to pay for him after LaLiga dropped its salary cap.

Messi has hinted that he would be open to playing in the United States before, something several other big names in the sport have done at the end of their careers.

"I always had the dream of being able to enjoy and have the experience of living in the United States, experience what the league there is like," he said in 2020, via Forbes.

While bringing Messi in would be huge for both Inter Miami and MLS as a whole, it sounds like such a move isn’t going to happen next year.

Lionel Messi of PSG
Lionel Messi to MLS isn't happening just yet. (John Berry/Getty Images)