Lionel Messi, the reigning world champion and Argentina captain, has reportedly decided to join Inter Miami – the move is set to be announced in the next few hours.
According to Guillem Balague, Messi has made the decision to join the South Florida-based club. Further reports from Fabrizio Romano suggest that Messi will confirm his decision through an announcement in the coming hours.
This morning, French newspaper L’Equipe said the South Florida-based club was “on the safe side” for Messi’s signing after the Argentine received formal offers from Saudi Arabia.
There was also a flirtation with a move back to Barcelona, which Jorge Messi indicated as a preferred destination. However, given the financial instability of the Catalan club, an attempt to bring back the all-time top scorer was unlikely to bear fruit.
The move should bring some hope to a desperate Miami side, as the Herons are bottom in the Eastern Conference and third-bottom in the league overall.
Lionel Messi has reportedly decided to join Inter Miami after leaving Paris Saint-Germain
It’s a major coup for David Beckham’s team, who have fended off offers from Saudi Arabia
🚨🚨 BREAKING: Lionel Messi on Inter Miami, here we go! The decision has been made and will be announced by Leo in the next few hours #InterMiami
🇺🇸 Messi will play in MLS. No more chances for Barcelona/Al Hilal despite trying to achieve that.
𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐆𝐎#Messi #MLS pic.twitter.com/OTYWIlEzNc
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 7, 2023
The agreement to join Miami comes as the Argentina national team plans to build a training facility in South Florida.
Regarding a move to Saudi Arabia, L’Equipe said that Messi and his wife Antonella Roccuzzo “can’t imagine settling down in the Gulf desert with their three boys”.
As for Barcelona, Antonella and Leo remained interested in returning to the Spanish city.
But L’Equipe said a “persistent distrust” of Barca president Joan Laporta is at least one of the reasons why this isn’t possible.
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The offer to move to Saudi Arabia came at a time when the country’s public investment fund was beginning to spend wild sums of money to attract older European top footballers.
Just earlier this week it was announced that Al-Ittihad would sign Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema as Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante is also close to a transfer to the desert kingdom.
Messi’s rejection of the Saudi Pro League bid should be seen as a setback – as the Saudis offered him billions of dollars and a chance to renew his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo.
This is Major League Soccer’s second major signing of a world-class player that would draw significant attention to its competition – a mirror image of the same move Beckham made in 2007.
Messi and his wife Antonella Roccuzzo reportedly don’t want to settle down in Saudi Arabia
MLS has an offer that includes deals with several other brands – including Adidas and Apple
It appears Apple leaked Messi’s decision in a now-deleted tweet
As a result, MLS’ offer to Messi involved much more than just money via a club deal. “The league has gotten very creative with all of this,” a stakeholder told The Athletic of a potential deal to sign Messi. “Everything is on the table.”
The deal is said to include contributions from two of MLS’s biggest commercial partners: Apple TV, its current rights holder for the broadcast, and Adidas, MLS’s apparel sponsor.
MLS and Apple have reportedly talked about offering Messi a share of the revenue generated by new subscribers won by the star’s arrival in the US for the platform’s streaming package, the MLS Season Pass.
Apple is also working on a four-part documentary chronicling Messi’s four World Cup appearances.
Additionally, Apple appeared to leak the announcement via a now-deleted tweet.
Meanwhile, the report added that Adidas has offered Messi a profit-sharing agreement with the sportswear giant, under which the player will receive a share of any profit increases from Adidas stemming from his involvement in MLS.
Messi and Adidas have a long-standing partnership – the Argentine signed with the German sportswear brand back in 2006. In 2017, he finally struck a lifetime shoe deal with them.
There are also rumors that Messi will have the same option in his contract that was granted to Beckham, which is for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner to buy a stake in an MLS club at a pre-determined price.
A potential problem for Inter Miami is where to play their games as arguably the greatest player of all time joins their club.
DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale only has 18,000 fans, which could prompt Inter to make plans to play their games elsewhere – say at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium
Lionel Messi’s final days at PSG have been tiring as fans continued to mock him on the pitch
Inter Miami has been struggling to build a soccer-specific stadium in downtown Miami for years. However, a 25,000-seat venue is expected to be completed by 2025.
Meanwhile, the club has played its games at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale — an 18,000-seat venue located 30 miles north of downtown.
With Messi’s arrival, the need for a larger venue could force Inter to consider other options – such as Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami American football teams.
Messi’s departure comes at a time when his relationship with his club PSG is arguably at its worst.
The fan’s fans have been booing Messi’s name, both at his announcement and at every touch of the ball in some games.
There is greater unrest within the Parisian club – coach Christophe Galtier was sacked after a single season and rumors suggest Neymar might want to quit.
Paris Saint-Germain won the Ligue 1 title by a point over title rivals Lens on the final matchday, despite a 3-2 defeat by Clermont Foot.