“I decided to go to Inter Miami.”
It was ‘personal’. ‘GOAT’ Lionel Messi revealed his destination himself. It was Inter Miami of Major League Soccer in the United States. Messi said in an interview with Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo on the 8th (Korean time), “I have decided to leave Europe” and “I have decided to go to Inter Miami.” With this, Messi’s saga ended with neither a return to Barcelona nor a trip to Saudi Arabia, but a third option, the United States.먹튀검증
Messi’s trip to Inter Miami came to the surface the previous day through the British BBC. The BBC reported that Messi is set to join Inter Miami of Major League Soccer in the United States. “Messi wanted to stay in Europe, but there was no satisfactory offer. He agonized between Inter Miami and Al-Hilal and concluded to go to the United States,’ he said. Around the same time, transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano also said, ‘Messi moves to Inter Miami. ‘There is no return to Barcelona,’ he said. He even added ‘HERE WE GO’, which means official.
Messi’s future was a matter of primary concern. Messi parted ways with Paris Saint-Germain on the 4th. Paris Saint-Germain announced through the club’s official channel that “Messi, who spent two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, has finished his journey at the end of this season.” “We express our gratitude to Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or seven times. I sincerely wish him more success for the rest of his playing career,’ he said. Messi also said through Ars, “It was fun to play with good players at Paris Saint-Germain. I am grateful to the club for giving me a great experience in Paris.” Messi, who performed an activity that did not match the value of his name at Paris Saint-Germain, such as lower-than-expected results and an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia, played the final game with intensive booing from fans.
Soccer fans’ attention was focused on the future of Messi, who became a free body. The destination seemed to be in two places. Al-Hilal and Barcelona. At first, Al-Hilal was the dominant force. On the 9th of last month, AFP reported that Messi had signed a blockbuster contract with a Saudi club, and the possibility of Messi going to Al-Hilal rose to the surface. However, Messi’s father immediately countered in a statement, saying: “We have absolutely no contracts with any club for next year. There are always rumors and many people use Lionel’s name to get notoriety, but there is only one truth.” The rumors seemed to be dispelled.
However, the atmosphere changed again when Spain’s Sport reported that “Al-Hilal wants to announce the signing of Messi on the 6th.” He continued, “If Al-Hilal receives final approval from the player, he will make an announcement on the 6th,” adding, “Al-Hilal wants to create a global sensation through this and promote Saudi Arabia to the world.” The conditions were literally at the level of making a sound. His annual salary is 400 million euros, or about 560 billion won. Twice that of Cristiano Ronaldo. Sport: ‘Al-Hilal offered Messi 400 million euros per season. They have presented all means, and only Messi’s OK sign is left,’ he said.
Recently, Saudi Arabia, which has been at the center of the issue with Ronaldo, is showing an active movement to host the World Cup. Saudi Arabia took over Newcastle United of the English Premier League with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund at the forefront, and even embraced Ronaldo. He recently joined Al Ittihad, along with Karim Benzema. N’Golo Kante and Sergio Ramos are also ahead of their trip to Saudi Arabia. Messi was the pinnacle of Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dubbed ‘Mr. Everything’, wants to raise his international status around sports. Despite criticism of sportswashing, he had no intention of stopping investing.
However, on the 6th, when Al-Hilal wanted an official announcement, a great turn of events unfolded. Reporter Tony Juanmarti, who runs a Barcelona-related podcast, revealed on social media the scene where Messi’s father and agent Jorge Messi entered the house of Barcelona president Juan Laporta. Jorge, who had a 40-minute conversation with President Laporta, even opened his mouth. He said, “Messi wants to go back to Barcelona. I also want Messi to come back. Let’s see.” It looked like the Barcelona comeback was opening.
As is known, Messi missed Barcelona while playing for Paris Saint-Germain. Messi is a one-club man from Barcelona youth, full of Barcelona DNA to the bone. His retirement at Barcelona could be the most beautiful finish for Messi. All work continued. Coach Xabi Hernandez has also officially requested Messi return. President Laporta has also pushed for Messi to return for a long time. Barcelona did their best to solve the proportional salary cap problem, such as clearing Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets, and tangible results seemed to be coming out. Even the ‘OK sign’ of the La Liga secretariat fell.
Reuters
Reuters
But still, Messi has not been able to make an offer that satisfies him. Even though her mentally drained Messi made concessions to return to her hometown, Barcelona’s situation continued to stand still. She failed to satisfy Messi’s need to decide her whereabouts as soon as possible. “It’s true that there were offers from other European teams, but I didn’t even think about that, because in Europe the only place I want to go is Barcelona,” Messi said. “I really wanted to go to Barcelona and I wanted to go back. After going through and leaving the team, I didn’t want to go through the same situation again, having to wait and see what happens.” “I’ve been told that Barcelona will have to sell players and cut other players’ salaries in order to bring me in, and the truth is that I don’t want to go through that or get any of the benefits associated with it,” he said. “But there has been no formal, written, signed offer. Nothing has been done. I don’t know if that will be possible. I haven’t even officially talked about money.”
In the meantime, Inter Miami, owned by David Beckham, jumped in. The whole of Major League Soccer came out. According to The Athletic, Apple TV+, an online video service (OTT) launched by Apple, is responsible for MLS broadcasting for 10 years from this season, and even considered a plan to provide Messi with a portion of the revenue from the ‘season pass’ (one season relay package ticket). .
This shook Messi’s heart. According to the BBC, Messi is known to have opened his mind to various conditions to collaborate with giant brands beyond lifestyle and football. It is expected that support from the American Major League Soccer level will be added. Even in terms of revenue, working with big brands is not up to the amount you can get in Saudi Arabia, but you can earn an equivalent amount. Above all, a new justification for pioneering the US market can be obtained. As Messi already owns a house in Miami, he has met all the conditions for the transfer. “If it was money, I would have gone to Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. It seemed like a lot of money to me, but I made my decision based on factors other than money,” Messi said.
He also considered the psychological aspect. He seems to have considered that going to the United States is much more advantageous in areas such as adaptation and family than Saudi Arabia, where all aspects are unfamiliar. Several articles have appeared saying that Messi suffered from Paris Saint-Germain and was psychologically devastated. “I won the World Cup in Qatar, and when I couldn’t go to Barça, I thought it was time to go to MLS and live my football life in a different way and enjoy my life more,” said Messi. I will do my best to do everything well, but I will be more stable mentally.” After winning the World Cup in Qatar and rising to the ranks of the best in the world, Messi left Europe to mark the final chapter of his career in the United States.
As Messi heads to Major League Soccer, the topography of football is expected to change once again. After Beckham, who came to LA Galaxy, MLS, which was looking for a superstar to become the center of the league, found the last puzzle. That superstar is Messi. Just as Pele pioneered the American stage, Messi also walked the same path.