Argentinian world champion Lionel Messi moves to the Major League Soccer to Inter Miami. In an interview he said: “I would have really liked to go back to Barcelona.”
The Argentine world champion confirmed this in an interview with the Spanish sports newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” on Wednesday evening (June 7th, 2023). “It’s not 100 percent clear yet, we still have a few things to sort out,” said messi “but we chose this path.”
Messi: ‘I wanted to go back to Barcelona’
Messi admitted that he “I would have loved to have returned to FC Barcelona”. But he has his future “don’t leave it in the hands of others” want. He was alluding to Barcelona’s financial situation. The club recently had to sell players and cut salaries to register new players. “I should have waited to see what happened. And I didn’t want to experience that again.” In Europe only Barcelona came into question for him.
Messi had his last game for Paris last weekend Saint Germain completed. He will not extend his contract, which expires on June 30. There had previously been speculation about a move to Saudi Arabia to join Al-Hilal.
Inter Miami: Beckham benefits
Inter Miami is owned by the group “Miami Freedom Park LLC“, which includes former soccer star David Beckham.
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham once played in MLS himself. At that time he was granted the right to found another club in the MLS for 25 million US dollars. The investment is paying off for Beckham: the club was last valued at around $600 million – before Messi came.
According to the portal “The Athletic“Messi is to share in the income from the TV rights. In mid-June, Major League Soccer signed a ten-year contract with “Apple TV” for $2.5 billion. Apple is also planning a series about Messi. Also MLS sponsor Adidas is said to be preparing an agreement with Messi.