Is Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami after PSG saga ends? Here’s who is after him.
With multiple reports indicating Lionel Messi’s time at PSG is over, rumors have circled around his next destination.
And one of the places on the list is Inter Miami, which David Beckham is a co-owner of.
The Major League Soccer club has been rumored as a future destination for Messi ever since he left Barcelona. ESPN FC reported in November that Messi said in the past he would like to play in the MLS, and Miami would be a perfect fit since Messi owns a home there and his family takes regular vacations to South Florida.
But when will that happen?
Fabrizio Romano, a soccer insider and expert on the transfer market, reported on his YouTube channel Thursday that Inter Miami is prepared to wait on Messi, meaning if it isn’t this summer then next summer or the summer after.
On Tuesday, PSG suspended Messi for two weeks for taking a trip to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission, the Associated Press reported. And multiple reports said PSG will not renew Messi’s contract when it expires June 30.
In early April, Romano reported Saudi club Al-Hilal offered Messi a $441 million deal per year to join them. Al-Hilal is a rival club of Al-Nassr, which signed Cristiano Ronaldo in December 2020 to become the highest-paid player in the sport’s history at $75 million per year, ESPN reported.
Another club courting Messi is his former team, FC Barcelona. Forbes reported Barca needs “to shed a required €200 million [$220 million] from their wage bill,” to bring Messi back to La Liga and the club.
Romano reported Messi’s priority is to continue in Europe until at least the 2024 Copa America.
Spanish radio station Onda Cero reported Messi’s plan is to play for Barca for one year, before joining Al-Hilal and Barca veterans Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets would join him, too.
Messi is considered one of the all-time greats in the sport’s storied history. He led Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar in December and previously won a Copa America for Argentina. He’s won the Ballon d’Or, given to the best player, a record seven times.
Messi won the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona three times — he was not in the squad for the final in 2006 and UEFA does not record him as winning it that year.
