As of 11:41 a.m
Lionel Messi confirms his move to Miami
Superstar Lionel Messi continues his career at Inter Miami in the USA. David Beckham is a co-owner of the Florida MLS club. Previously, there had been extensive speculation about the future of the Argentine.
Lionel Messi is not going back to Barcelona and has turned down an almost insane offer from Saudi Arabia. He says he chose Miami because of his family. The additional earnings are not to be despised there either.
DFC Barcelona have wished Lionel Messi the best of luck for his planned move to the USA to Inter Miami. The Catalans had high hopes of bringing back the now 35-year-old world champion. At Monday’s meeting, Messi’s father Jorge and other representatives of the player communicated the pro-Miami decision to Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta, the Spanish champions wrote in a statement on their website. Messi left Barca in tears in the summer of 2021 because of the club’s difficult financial situation.
FC Barcelona also submitted a proposal for Messi’s return, the club wrote. “I heard that they had to sell players or lower salaries, and the truth is that I didn’t want that,” Messi said in an interview with the sports newspapers Mundo deportivo and Sport. He wanted to make his own decision. That is why his return to Barça did not materialize. “Even though I would have liked to do it, it wasn’t possible. We didn’t even talk about the contract. It wasn’t a formal, written and signed offer because nothing had been done yet and we didn’t know if it would be possible or not. We didn’t even officially talk about money.”
It had previously been reported that the club could not provide Messi with any guarantees. Contrary to another offer, Messi also rejected the offer from Saudi Arabia. He also chose Miami, co-owner David Beckham’s club, with his family in mind. With that, the Argentinian waived a lot of money.
Up to 500 million euros annual salary for Messi
In Miami he gets 50 million euros per season, in Saudi Arabia it is said to have been a total volume of almost one billion euros for two years, i.e. around ten times as much. Messi could have earned up to 500 million euros at Al-Hilal next season. The club had initially offered 400 million, according to various media reports, the offer was recently improved again. The sums are well above Cristiano Ronaldo’s salary at Saudi Al-Nassr FC, which is said to be around 200 million euros a year.
However, the gap for Messi should not be as big as it seems at first glance. The transfer to America is accompanied by a few additional earnings. The league’s offer to Messi includes agreements with the two major sponsors of Major League Soccer (MLS), according to The Athletic. The league has become very creative with all of this, “everything is on the table,” an MLS representative is quoted as saying.
The MLS and Apple want to offer Messi a share of the streaming revenue. The tech giant and the league signed a ten-year, $2.5 billion deal earlier this year. Apple also announced on Tuesday that it would broadcast a four-part documentary series covering Messi’s five World Cup appearances. Adidas is also said to be preparing its own agreement that will ensure Messi a share of the profits. Messi already has a lifetime contract with the German company. According to ESPN, there is also an option for Messi to participate in Inter Miami. His arrival was the biggest transfer in the 27-year history of the MLS, the sports broadcaster celebrated.
The swipe from Barcelona’s president
Barcelona’s President Laporta could not resist a side swipe in the message. He understands and respects Messi’s decision to play in a less demanding league and be a little less in the spotlight. The club boss and Messi’s father also agreed to promote a worthy tribute from the fans to a player who has always been loved and will always be loved.
In terms of sport, the move to Miami is actually questionable. The fact that his new club is currently last in the Eastern Conference couldn’t stop Messi from switching continents. Miami recently parted ways with coach Phil Neville, and Javier Morales is temporarily coaching the team – a 43-year-old Argentinian and therefore Messi’s compatriot. The Argentinian sports newspaper “Olé” has already reported an interest in Gerardo Martino, former Argentine national coach and, like Messi, from Rosario.
And lifted doesn’t mean postponed. There are already reports that Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambassador – another of Messi’s side jobs – has postponed his move to the desert by just a year or two.
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