Beyond football, Leo Messi's signing from Inter Miami represents a milestone on an economic level. The Argentine star will be the highest-paid player in MLS history. While his salary is much lower than what they could offer him in Saudi Arabia, it will far exceed the current highest-paid player in the United States: Shardan Shaqiri, who earns just over $8 million.
Inter Miami is a very young club (founded in 2018) and still has a long way to go. His season in the U.S. has not been particularly successful (15 points in 16 games with just five wins) but Messi's arrival must be the turning point on the way up.
The Argentine star, considered one of the best players in history, landed in MLS to take North American football to a new dimension. Miami owner David Beckham was one of the pioneers when it came to MLS' breakthrough, and now he wants to double that impact. The president and owner of Inter Miami fulfilled his goal: to bring Messi to his team.
"Which player are you enjoying the most right now?" they asked the Englishman in an interview a few months ago on ESPN. The answer was clear: "Messi, I love Messi. For many reasons, I like him because he's a great player, he's got a great personality, he's a great person... I think what everyone loves about him is the passion, he plays very freely."
Beckham. The architect of the move, photo: AP
Who will join the flea?
Messi isn't the only one coming to Florida. Rumors circulated across the United States that Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, the coach who graduated from the Mexican national team, aspires to be the new coach of Inter Miami and reunite with the flea.
As for the rest of the squad, a rebuild is expected to fight for the MLS title in the immediate future: Angel Di Maria, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and even Jordi Alba are football players who are candidates to join soon.
Di Maria. May join, photo: EPA
When will we see the same game?
The reality is that the MLS transfer market doesn't open until July 5, so Leo Messi won't be able to register before then, nor will he be released from his contract at PSG until June 30, when it will be at least a month before we see the star player in the new uniform.
On the 5th itself, Inter Miami plays in MLS against Columbus Crew and on July 9 against DC United. However, sources in the United States such as The Athletic talk about the match against Cruz Azul on the night of July 21-22 as the Flea's debut.
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Argentina watch Messi announce the decision, Photo: AFP
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