Messi will join Inter Miami.

Superstar Lionel Messi will join American club Inter Miami after his contract with PSG expires.

According to the BBC , Messi will reject a $430 million-a-year salary offer from Saudi Arabia, opting instead for an offer from Inter Miami. To attract Messi to Major League Soccer (MLS), Miami has partnered with major brands such as Adidas and Apple.

Messi during PSG's match against Leipzig in the Champions League group stage on October 19, 2021, in Paris. Photo: Reuters

This will be Messi's first time playing outside of Europe. He wanted to stay in Europe for another season, preferably with Barcelona, ​​but received no offers. Barcelona are facing financial difficulties, so they couldn't make an offer to the club legend. He could only choose between Inter Miami or Al Hilal.

Many people wanted Messi to join Al Hilal to reunite with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the same league. The offer from the Saudi League was said to have better terms than MLS, but Messi preferred playing in the US for several reasons, including lifestyle and endorsement deals with major brands that extend far beyond football. The 36-year-old striker also owns a house in Miami, Florida, which he rents out.

Messi scored 32 goals in 75 games for PSG, helping the team win the French league title twice in a row. But his most significant achievement in his two years in Paris was winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. That title helped Messi break many records and fulfill all his aspirations in football. "I have no more goals in football," he told the Argentinian newspaper TNT in December 2022.

Inter Miami was founded five years ago and began playing in the MLS in 2020, but has finished outside the Top 10 for three consecutive years. They are currently bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, among 15 teams. The team is owned by billionaire father and son Jorge Mas and Jose Mas, along with football legend David Beckham. Beckham also serves as the team's chairman and recently sacked manager Phil Neville six days ago. Neville and Beckham were long-time teammates at Manchester United from 1994 to 2003.

The MLS was founded in 1993 and began competition in 1996. It has no promotion or relegation system. Many famous players have played in the MLS, including Hristo Stoichkov, Lothar Matthaus, Alessandro Nesta, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Didier Drogba, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, and even Beckham. "King of Football" Pele also played in the US for the New York Cosmos, but the MLS hadn't been established yet.

Hoang An

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