Lionel Messi, who has fascinated and largely dominated global football for a generation, declared on Wednesday that the next stop in his glittering playing career would be the United States.
In an interview with two Spanish sports news outlets, Messi confirmed that he is planning to sign a contract with Inter Miami, the MLS team partly owned by David Beckham. He turned down an offer to play in Saudi Arabia that pays him to promote tourism in the kingdom and is trying to build his national league by signing international stars.
“I made the decision to go to Miami,” Messi told Sport and Mundo Deportivo. “I still haven’t completed it 100 percent. I’m missing a few things, but we’ve decided to keep going.”
MLS confirmed Messi’s decision in a statement, saying: “We look forward to welcoming one of the greatest footballers of all time to our league”, but noting that no contract has been finalized. The league’s social media channels, meanwhile, were much less clear: the official MLS account announced bluntly that Messi was coming.
Messi, the best player of his generation and arguably the best of all time, arrived in MLS after winning every conceivable accolade at club and international level: league titles in Spain and France; four Champions League trophies with Barcelona; and the Copa America and last December the World Cup with Argentina.
His status as the world’s top player made him an extremely valuable candidate as his contract with his current employers Paris St-Germain expired. Miami was far from his only option: 35-year-old Messi renounced both a perceived return to Barcelona and a monumental offer reportedly worth up to $500m to join Saudi Arabia, which is headed for the United States has set a goal of attracting a dozen of the world’s best players to head to the Gulf this summer.
If the deal goes through, it would be the biggest coup for MLS since Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. This deal changed global perceptions of the league’s quality and ambitions. Messi’s capture would, if anything, bring even more attention to the league ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Messi admitted in his interview that Miami might not have been his first destination. Speaking to media outlets that devote much of their coverage to FC Barcelona, the club where he became the best player of his generation, Messi made it clear that in an ideal world he would have returned to Catalonia. He was “obviously keen to return,” he said, discussing the idea with Xavi Hernández, the club’s manager, and Joan Laporta, its president.
Ultimately, however, Barcelona’s financial turmoil forced him into action. “I heard they had to sell players or lower salaries and the truth is I didn’t want to go through that,” he said, indicating he didn’t want to be blamed for Barcelona just having to adjust their squad to adapt him.
“I wanted to make my own decision and think about myself and my family,” he said, describing the move away from Europe as a chance “to search for something different and find some peace of mind.”
After 20 years as one of the best players in the world and seven months after leading Argentina to the World Cup, the only trophy he had previously eluded him, he said he wanted to “take a little off focus and think about my family.” ”
This led to him turning down the chance to stay in Paris. He never really embarked on an attack with fellow superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappé and his expected departure from PSG was finally confirmed by the club on Saturday, hours before the team’s last game of the season.
“I want to thank the club, the city of Paris and its people for these two years,” he said in a statement released by the club a few hours before playing his last game against PSG and losing. “I wish you all the best. The best for the future.”
The club retaliated with “warmest regards” and thanked Messi for his services, but PSG fans were less sentimental: they booed his name during the warm-up, did the same during the game and continued to show their displeasure during the celebrations of The Last French Club championship followed.
With his contract up, Messi’s options in football were on everyone’s lips. Would he find a way to return to the club that made him, Barcelona? Would he take his game and family on a new adventure in the United States? Or would his salary demands limit his options so much that he would have little choice but to accept Saudi club Al Hilal’s almost unimaginable offer?
Saudi Arabia’s offer was perhaps the most transactional: it was able to offer Messi a salary no other suitor could match and he already had a relationship with the kingdom through a multi-million dollar deal in which Messi had become a spokesman for the Saudi Tourism Authority.
“If it was a question of money, I would have gone to Arabia or anywhere,” said Messi. Instead, however, he insisted his decision was made for reasons other than purely economic.
Barcelona, on the other hand, offered familiarity and a return to the club and the city he never wanted to leave. Messi left Catalonia in 2021 for Paris St-Germain when Barcelona were in financial straits and unable to sign him a new contract under Spanish league rules.
Despite the temptation to return to a club that adored him, Messi explained that he didn’t want to put himself at the mercy of La Liga’s accountants. Despite reports surfacing that Barcelona had struck a deal with La Liga that would allow the club to complete his signing without breaking rivals’ wage rules, he was unwilling to take the risk.
“When I had to leave, La Liga also accepted that the club would sign me and in the end that wasn’t possible,” he said. “Well, I was afraid that the same thing would happen again.” He confirmed that his selection was primarily about “not having to wait again”.
That gave Miami its chance, but – as with previous stars – MLS still had to get creative. That, too, offered some consolation for Messi: he owns at least one home in Miami, and settling there – and closer to Argentina – will make it easier for him to tap rich, new sponsorship opportunities in a huge commercial market.
But a base in the United States would also have appealed to him for competitive reasons, potentially making it easier for Messi to help Argentina defend their World Cup title in 2026.
To make the numbers work, Inter Miami’s owners, which include Beckham, and Messi’s representatives have put together a multifaceted offer: a squad spot free from the restrictions of MLS pay rules; an interest in Inter Miami once his playing career ends; and revenue-sharing agreements with Apple and Adidas, two companies with whom Messi has long and lucrative relationships.
Those deals would come with higher sales for Adidas, which Messi previously signed to a lifetime sponsorship deal, and higher subscription sales for the Apple TV+ streaming service. Apple, which acquired the rights to broadcast MLS matches via the service earlier this year, announced on Tuesday that it would also be producing a multi-part documentary series on Messi.
However, a first look at Messi on the streaming platform in an MLS game will have to wait until deals are signed and the league hits the start of its mid-season transfer window on July 5.