Confirmed : Lionel Messi to join MLS side Inter Miami after snubbing Saudi payday and Barcelona homecoming
Lionel Messi will snub a lucrative contract in Saudi Arabia and move to Major League Soccer side Inter Miami as a free agent after parting ways with French champion Paris St Germain, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
Messi, who played his final game for PSG over the weekend, was also linked with a return to Barcelona but the Spanish club have had their hands tied due to LaLiga’s financial fair play rules.
The 35-year-old Argentine will play outside Europe for the first time since he joined Barca’s academy at the age of 13 and became the Spanish club’s all-time record goalscorer with 672 goals.
Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in December and has earned a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, won the Ligue 1 title in his two seasons with PSG as well as the French Super Cup in 2022.
Inter Miami are co-owned by former England captain David Beckham, who was one of the first major European stars to move to the United States to play in the MLS, winning the MLS Cup twice with Los Angeles Galaxy.
It is also said that a key factor in sealing the deal was that Messi had wanted to go to a club where he could eventually have an ownership stake. He also wanted to maximise his existing deal with Adidas and MLS’s relationship with Apple.
