:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/H3H25E2PIRHPFHJ7NZMCZHTZBE.jpg "Messi officially ends his contract with Inter Miami")
Lionel Messi finalized the deal to join Major League Soccer, and after years of planning and searching, Inter Miami has a global icon.
Messi’s hiring was made official on Saturday, just over five weeks after he declared to the world that he would go to Inter Miami. The team will present him on Sunday at the stadium in Fort Lauderdale and the first home game for the Argentine star could come on Friday — in the Leagues Cup against Cruz Azul from Mexico.
The first press conference is scheduled for Monday and his first training session with the club is expected to take place on Tuesday. The club had previously announced that the deal with Messi is for two and a half years and will pay him between $50 million and $60 million a year — bringing the value of the deal to $150 million in cash.
“WELCOME 10,” the team posted on Twitter Saturday.
Truly, welcome Messi.
“We are thrilled that the best player in the world has chosen Inter Miami and Major League Soccer, and his decision is a testament to the growth and energy in our League and our sport in North America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. a statement. “There is no doubt that Lionel will show the world that MLS can be one of the top options for the best players.”
In many ways it seems like an odd union. Messi — perhaps still soccer’s biggest star — signs with a club that started last Saturday in the MLS Eastern Conference standings. It is a club that in its four seasons has never won a title and plays in a temporary stadium that will hold only 22,000 people when the hasty renovations are finished.
It doesn’t matter, royalty is now at Inter Miami.
Messi arrived in Miami on Tuesday after a few weeks of vacation and on Wednesday the physicals and paperwork began. The deal was finalized on Saturday. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner moves to Miami after two years with Paris Saint-Germain.
“I am very excited to start this new step in my career with Inter Miami, in the United States,” Messi said in a statement distributed by the team. “This is a beautiful opportunity and together we will continue building this beautiful project. The idea is to work together to achieve the objectives that we set for ourselves and I really want to start helping here, in my new home”.