Lionel Messi to Inter Miami, decision has been made. Messi will play in MLS next season. Barcelona have no more chances.
However, the Argentinian is said to be earning significantly less than the last reported salary in Florida.
Lionel Messi salary at Inter Miami
Spanish SPORT reports that the player earns £43m a year, £830,000 a week.
According to The Athletic, part of the Inter Miami deal is a collaboration between Argentinian personal outfit makers Adidas and Apple.
The 7 time Ballon D’or has reportedly turned down a lucrative offer from Saudi club Al Hilal. Messi could have made up to €500 million a year there and faced other top stars like Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr) and Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad).
What awaits for Lionel Messi in USA?
Inter Miami was founded in 2018. England legend David Beckham is a co-owner of the club. The club plays its home games at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (18,000 seats, average attendance: 16,687).
Inter Miami is currently in 15th and last place in the Eastern Conference with just 15 points from 16 games. The team is coached by Messi’s compatriot Javier Morales.
Messi will play for the first time as a professional outside of Europe. At the age of 13, he moved from Argentina to the FC Barcelona youth team. There he rose to become a world star, played a total of 778 competitive games and scored 672 goals (303 assists).
In 2021, Messi join to PSG on free transfer, 17 years after his professional debut at Barça.
However, Messi did not feel at home in Paris. In his first season, his stats were relatively weak. The Argentine scored only eleven goals (15 assists) in 34 games, in the Champions League it came to an early end against Real Madrid in the round of 16.
In the 2022/2023 season he improved (41 games, 21 goals, 20 assists), but in the Champions League PSG was eliminated again in the round of 16 and had no chance against Bayern by 3 goals on aggregate.
Recently, Messi has also been linked with a return to Barça, including meeting between father Jorge and Barça President Joan Laporta earlier in the week. After that, there were hopes among the Catalans that the Argentine would return.
The Argentine already owns a stunning £7m apartment in Miami which boasts incredible views of the coastline.
He is expected to lead Argentina to the 2024 Copa America, which will be held in the United States. He could still aim for the 2026 World Cup, which will also be co-hosted by the United States.
