‘This is a fantastic opportunity’: Global icon Messi officially joins MLS’ Inter Miami

Lionel Messi has finalized his Major League Soccer deal and after years of planning and chasing, Inter Miami has landed a global icon.

Messi’s contract became official on Saturday, just over five weeks after announcing his arrival at Inter Miami. The team will introduce him to the stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday night, and the first home game of the Messi era could be as early as Friday in a Leagues Cup tie against Cruz Azul.

A formal press conference is scheduled for Monday and his first training session with his new club is expected on Tuesday. The club previously announced that Messi’s deal will be for two and a half seasons and will pay him between $50 million and $60 million annually, bringing the total contract value alone to between $125 million and $150 million in cash.

“BIENVENIDO 10,” the team posted on Twitter on Saturday.

Welcome, Messi, indeed.

“We are thrilled that the greatest player in the world has chosen Inter Miami CF and Major League Soccer, and his decision is a testament to the momentum and energy behind our League and our sport in North America,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber in a statement. . “We have no doubt that Lionel will show the world that MLS can be a league of choice for the best players in the game.”

It is an unusual marriage in many ways. Messi, still arguably the biggest star in the game, signs with a team that entered the MLS’s Eastern Conference standings in last place on Saturday. It is a club in only its fourth season, playing in a temporary home that will only hold around 22,000 people when a number of hasty renovations, such as the addition of additional stands, are completed.

Does not matter. Football royalty now plays for Inter Miami.

‘To collaborate’

Messi arrived in South Florida after the holidays on Tuesday, began the physical and paperwork process on Wednesday, and the deal was finalized Saturday afternoon. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, the trophy that is awarded annually to the best player in the world, makes his move to Miami after two years at Paris Saint-Germain.

“I am very excited to start this next step in my career at Inter Miami and in the United States,” Messi said in a statement. “This is a fantastic opportunity and together we will continue to build this wonderful project. The idea is to work together to achieve the goals we have set, and I am excited to help here in my new home.”

It was common knowledge that Messi would leave PSG. The mystery was where he went. Some thought Messi would eventually choose to play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, following longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo to a kingdom where some clubs are now funded by his sovereign wealth fund. Going back to Barcelona, ​​a legendary franchise where he spent most of his career, was another possibility.

Miami eventually won. An idea that co-owner David Beckham started to publicize in 2021 – two years before the team apparently actually started thinking about how to pull this off – has now become a reality.

“After winning the World Cup and not being able to return to Barcelona, ​​it was my turn to go to the United States league to play football in a different way,” Messi said in June when announcing his decision.

He led Argentina to the World Cup title last December. Messi has scored more than 800 goals in his career for club and country, making him one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the sport. He scored twice in last year’s World Cup final against France, a match that ended 3-3 with Argentina winning 4-2 on penalties.

A four-time winner of the Champions League, his 129 goals in the top club competition are second only to Ronaldo’s 140. Messi has won 10 La Liga titles and two Ligue 1 championships, seven Copa del Reys and three Club World Cups plus a Copa America . and Olympic gold medal for Argentina.

Fans flock to the team’s facility

“Ten years ago, when I started my journey to build a new team in Miami, I said I dreamed of bringing the greatest players in the world to this great city,” said Beckham. “Players who shared the ambition I had when I joined LA Galaxy to grow football in the US and build a legacy for the next generation in this sport we love so much.

“Today that dream came true.”

The club had a road game in St. Louis on Saturday, but as word got out, Messi may have been at the team’s facility that morning. Many wore Messi jerseys – some in Argentina’s light blue, some in Inter Miami’s pink and black. Some carried flags; one carried a sign, mostly in Spanish, but the words “Messi” and “GOAT” made the message clear.

It’s just part of a welcome party that’s just getting started.

Messi was seen with his family earlier this week at a Publix supermarket near Fort Lauderdale — the supermarket chain is a sponsor of Inter Miami — and the cart had a few items chosen by the kids: Froot Loops, Cap’n Crunch, Lucky Charms. The scene went viral by the time it hit the box office.

A serial goalscorer is apparently also a fan of cornflakes.

And now it’s time for football to begin. Inter Miami plans to present Messi on Sunday evening at an event the club calls “The Unveil”. Shakira is rumored to be attending, and tickets to the highly anticipated show for weeks are long gone.

Expectations for the franchise are now officially sky high. Inter Miami has never competed for a title; Messi could change everything in a heartbeat for a team that has won just 34 per cent of its games in MLS.

“Lionel Messi is an incomparable talent,” said Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson. “What he brings on and off the pitch will elevate everyone around him and we are delighted to have him at Inter Miami.”