Wed 07 June 2023:
Lionel Messi, the Argentine great, has announced that he wants to join Major League Soccer club Inter Miami after leaving French champions Paris Saint-Germain, despite a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia.
“I made the decision that I’m going to go to Miami. I still haven’t closed it 100 percent,” Messi said on Wednesday. “I’m still missing a few things, but we decided to go ahead.”
Inter Miami also teased the player’s arrival in a social media video featuring various rumours about the superstar’s next destination that ends with Messi’s name stylised in the club’s colours.
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) June 7, 2023
Spanish football writer and Messi biographer Guillem Balague wrote in a BBC report earlier on Wednesday that the 35-year-old 2022 World Cup winner will reject an offer from Saudi side Al Hilal and is unable to rejoin his former club Barcelona due to Financial Fair Play (FFP) limitations.
The move to the United States will shock many in the game, as he was widely predicted to join to the increasingly ambitious Saudi Premier League to play alongside stars such Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Inter Miami, which David Beckham co-owns and now has an Argentinian interim coach in Javier Morales, has struggled this season. They are currently last in the Eastern Conference.
Signing the seven-time world player of the year would be a huge boost for the team and American football in general. If the contract with Miami goes through, Messi will be playing outside of Europe for the first time.
Messi won 10 La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Spanish Cups during his 21 years at Barcelona, and is the Catalan club’s record scorer with 672 goals.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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