It was last fall – just a few months before Lionel Messi lifted the FIFA Men’s World Cup trophy – when I called Ray Hudson, the man of authority himself.
The theme was how the South Florida lifestyle appealed to the world’s most famous athletes each off-season. These included Messi owning several properties in the Miami area, which has long played a key role in speculation that he might one day choose to play in Major League Soccer and make his home in the United States for some time to be.
Hudson, who played against Pele and George Best and Franz Beckenbauer, was always convinced Miami would lure Messi.
“It was a mood. It’s a mood. It’s hard to categorize,” Hudson told me of Miami’s appeal. “It’s a wonderful mix of everything.”
That marvelous mix that Hudson boasted about is adding Lionel Messi on a more permanent basis. Messi, who will turn 36 in two weeks, announced on Wednesday that he intends to sign with Inter Miami in MLS. By choosing to live in the United States, Messi is trying to achieve something he hasn’t achieved since he was a young man in FC Barcelona’s academy: a place away from the limelight.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday night after announcing his plans to sign for Miami, Messi explained: “Even more so after winning the World Cup which I needed to complete my career on this side and in the United States to live in a different way and enjoy everyday life a lot more.”
Rather than accept what was offered in Saudi Arabia as a two-year, $1 billion package and not re-expose himself to the trauma of his emotional departure from Barcelona in 2021, Messi will take his family to Miami to try to recover in this last phase of his playing career. It’s a moment that all top athletes reach and know inside that it’s time to pursue an alternate ending, one over which they have more control.
But with that decision, Messi has also given himself a measure of control over football in America. At least he will eventually – There are still some very important signatures to come at different levels at different companies. As my colleagues at The Athletic reported earlier this week, Messi will get a slice of the MLS and Apple TV+ revenue pie and sees his title sponsor Adidas playing a role in bringing him to South Florida. He will surely be the highest-paid athlete in league history.
He comes because he’s still Lionel Messi, but he needs to unearth a new version of himself. Leaving behind the comforts he’s cultivated suggests he’s open to the idea that he might have to embark on something new, something that goes beyond his dominant left foot: a consistent, everyday salesman too be. This groundbreaking package will have its requirements. This isn’t Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard on his last legs – Messi has big financial incentives to continue building his brand and the sport in the US
In a way, it will be the ultimate test for the most famous athlete alive who describes himself as an introvert. The walls he has built over the years are also put to the test here. Will he want to play a part in late-night TV show appearances like Beckham and Zlatan did before him? Will he want to help sell the sport before North America hosts the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2026? Will he still be playing until then? And while his connection to the vast Spanish-speaking population of the United States will be immediate and immensely valuable, how is he supposed to cross the language barrier when he has seldom spoken English in public (nor has it been asked to do so)? Does this language barrier even matter when it comes to Lionel Messi?
The access that sportswriters enjoy in the US is quite different from where Messi has played before. Messi may need to address reporters several times a week (depending on if and how MLS rewrites its media policy in his favour). He may have to face them in a cramped visitor locker room in suburban Denver or in the bowels of a Seattle football stadium. How many different ways can he answer the same question about how good (or not good) he finds the level of play in MLS?
An MLS manager told me on Wednesday that Messi’s arrival should not be underestimated. “Obviously, what happened with David Beckham (in 2007) and the attention it drew was a game changer for the league,” said the manager, who was not allowed to speak about Messi’s signing as it was has not yet officially concluded with the league. “Messi sets everything high across the board. We’ve all heard Commissioner (Don) Garber talk about being a league of choice and all that stuff. In a way, this is a confirmation of that.”
Two weeks before taking the podium in August 2021 and saying goodbye to the club where he was emerging as the most alluring player of all time, Messi was at one of his vacation homes in Miami. His speech had somehow gotten public and fans gathered outside. The walls of the pearly white compound were high, but Messi finally opened the front gate to let his fans in for a few seconds.
Messi has shown an incredible ability to adapt the structures around him to him. Can he bring America in on his own terms? Behind every athlete there is a story and we are obsessed with their stories because stories make them immortal. How does an immortal enjoy a midweek match on a rainy night in Charlotte?
We’ll find out in a moment.
(Top Photo: JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)