Beckham, Mas, McDonough in Barcelona on Inter Miami business as Messi rumors swirl

Nobody is saying whether FC Barcelona stars Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez are in contract talks with Inter Miami, as is rumored, but team owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas, and sporting director Paul McDonough were all on team business in Barcelona on Thursday.

Mas posted a photo of himself and Beckham at dinner with the caption: “Preparing for a productive work week in Europe. Building for our team city and fans and for La familia that is InterMiami.”

Barcelona radio station RAC1 reported that Beckham arrived in the city on Thursday, and an Inter Miami source confirmed that McDonough was traveling this week, and he is believed to be in Barcelona.

Messi, who has played for FC Barcelona his entire career, is under contract through 2021, but reportedly has an exit clause in his contract that would allow him to leave the Spanish club next summer.

Barcelona is trying to sign Messi, 32, to a lifetime contract. His annual salary, with bonuses, is $92 million. Messi has said in the past that he wouldn’t want to play for any European team other than Barcelona, for whom he has scored 603 goals in 687 games.

But he has never ruled out playing in another continent.

On January 29, 2018, when Inter Miami became official, Messi, who likes to vacation in Miami, sent a video congratulations to Beckham and the parting line was: “And who knows, maybe in a few years you can give me a call.”

Asked about the rumor, McDonough said: “We have no comment on player rumors.”

Uruguayan stars Suarez and Edinson Cavani of Paris Saint Germain have also been linked to Inter Miami, which kicks off its inaugural Major League Soccer season in March 2020.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said this week that he expects Messi to stay: “I have no doubt he will want to continue until 2021 and we hope after that another year.”