After all the hype that has unleashed him for over a week, Lionel Messi is finally on the pitch.
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He attended a first training session at the team’s training center with his Inter Miami CF team-mates on Tuesday morning.
Messi appeared to be smiling and ran with his teammates, chatting to everyone including striker Josef Martinez.
He wasn’t the only newcomer on the pitch as Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets made his debut with his team-mates.
scrutinized
We know that Messi’s arrival in MLS is historic news that could change the future of the Premier League, but some photos that appeared on social media made it even clearer.
We could see the media crowd disproportionately attending the Argentine’s first training session at Inter Miami’s training center.
A hundred or so people lined the sidelines, tied with a cord, all for one player.
It’s the kind of crowd you typically see at the MLS Cup Finals. At least that was the case for pre-pandemic spending.
reunion
It was also the official reunion between Messi and Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who was appointed Inter’s head coach at the end of June.
The pair know each other well as Martino managed both Messi and Sergio Busquets at Barcelona in 2013 and 2014.
But in the case of Messi, the ties run even deeper as Martino took charge of Argentina’s national team for two years after his spell at Barcelona.
The two Argentines also came via Newell’s Old Boys, Messi’s training club where Martino made three appearances during his playing career.
changes
Needless to say, Messi’s arrival has upset the MLS as commissioner Don Garber hasn’t ruled out the addition of natural grass in certain stadiums to accommodate Messi, who has played on this type of ground for most of his career.
There are actually some MLS clubs that play on synthetic surfaces, which is not attractive to elite players.
Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, New England, Charlotte, and Vancouver have this type of surface.
“MLS sponsors a lot of international games and we’ve been able to put natural grass in those stadiums, but we’ve never done that in a regular-season game,” he told one group. Reporters recently added that teams can install natural grass on top of synthetic.
“I expect teams to adopt this solution, but there is still work to be done to make it work.”