USA and Beckham instead of Saudis
Spectacular turnaround: Lionel Messi moves to Inter Miami
06/07/2023, 21:18
Sensational end in the struggle for the future of superstar Lionel Messi: The Argentine world champion continues his career at Inter Miami in the USA, David Beckham’s club. Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia gets nothing. The reasons are manifold.
Soccer superstar Lionel Messi has joined US club Inter Miami in Major League Soccer following his departure from French champions Paris Saint-Germain. The FC Barcelona icon is making his first move to a club outside of Europe and has also turned down a more lucrative offer from Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. The Argentine’s contract in Miami includes collaborations with brands such as Adidas and Apple, Britain’s BBC reports. The US club belongs to an investor group led by former England international David Beckham. “The decision has been made,” said the 35-year-old: “I will not return to Barcelona, I will go to Inter Miami.”
The 35-year-old Messi is said to have toyed with staying in one of Europe’s top divisions after leaving PSG. A return to FC Barcelona was also in the air. Messi’s father and adviser Jorge recently fueled this. He himself would ‘love it’ if his son returned to the Catalans, said Jorge Messi. However, FC Barcelona is struggling with economic difficulties and the financial fair play restrictions that will apply in La Liga next season have delayed the planned return action. Messi didn’t want to wait, after all he had a bad experience two years ago when he thought he would extend at Barca before ‘having to’ move to Paris.
Big brands and more sporting challenge
In the end, none of the offers from Europe should have been lucrative enough for the captain of the Argentine national team. Miami eventually got the nod over Al-Hilal, where Messi would have played in a league alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
The Saudi Arabian bid could not be beaten financially, but the US lifestyle and collaborations with big brands that go beyond football ultimately lured the superstar to near Disney World (Orlando). The sporting future would also have been less interesting in Saudi Arabia than in the USA. Messi wants to play in a competitive football league to be able to play well in the next Copa America.
Messi already owns a house in Miami. Florida is known for a large Latino community, Spanish is spoken in many places, which is an advantage for Messi’s wife and children, and the Argentine will be looking forward to a big one, not least because of his brilliant performance in last winter’s World Cup triumph in Qatar can look forward to support. The new Inter Miami star has already won the Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world seven times and is expected to win the personal award again this year after the World Cup title.