Lionel Messi Has Reportedly Held Talks Over Retiring At Inter Miami
David Beckham to sign Lionel Messi for Inter Miami when his Paris Saint-Germain deal expires in 2023? Messi moved to French club Paris Saint-Germain after it became clear that Barcelona would not be able to keep him due to financial constraints under the new salary cap laws of the Spanish Primera Division. The Argentine attacker will earn close to £500,000 a week in Paris on the back of the switch. There’s talk now though of Messi signing with Inter Miami….
“The club is above everything – even above the best player in the world. I said we’d do everything possible to keep Messi at Barça within the economic situation of club,” Barca president Joan Laporta would lament following the player departing the club as a free agent.
“We reached agreement but couldn’t formalize it, because of the club’s economic situation, which means we can’t register the player due to salary limits. I don’t want to go on and on about the situation we inherited, and the awful decisions that were made in the past. We have gone from bad to worse.”
Messi made attempts to stay and offered to have his salary split in half yet it was still not feasible and he would explain as much in a tear-filled press conference that will not soon be forgotten by Barcelona fans.
At 34, Messi is nearing the end of his football career and he will be 36 by the time his two-year deal with his new club expires. The forward has the option for a third year but, per Mirror.co.uk, also has the option of heading to the MLS and Inter Miami and will not necessarily end his career in France.
According to the report, Messi held talks with David Beckham about hanging up the boots at the latter’s soccer club Inter Miami. The meeting is understood to have taken place when the former Barca star bought a £5 million apartment in Miami.
Beckham has his eyes set on bringing a top star to South Florida and also has Cristiano Ronaldo down as a target.
“With Phil Neville in charge Inter Miami are struggling to reach the end of season playoffs and Beckham is determined to bring in big names who can help change their fortunes,” The Mirror’s report reads.
“He has also been monitoring developments at Juventus with former Manchester United star Ronaldo.
“But Messi is at the forefront of not just Beckham’s thoughts but also other members of the Inter Miami ownership – notably co-owner Jorge Mas.
“He insisted back in June that he is “optimistic” that Messi – who hasn’t hid his desire to end his career in America – would play for Inter Miami before hanging up his boots.”
“I am optimistic Messi will play in an Inter Miami shirt because I think it will complete the legacy of the greatest player in our generation and will meet with the ambitions of the owners of Inter Miami to build a world-class team,” Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas told the Miami Herald back in June.
“David and I have been working really hard, we have aspirations of bringing the best players here and Messi is a generational player, arguably the best player of all time.”
Messi has not yet made his PSG debut and was left out of the squad for their 4-2 win at Brest last Friday. He didn’t feature in the team’s opening day victory against Strasbourg and fans are eagerly awaiting his involvement, with many pegging PSG as the favorites to win the Champions League this season.
The player is still working his way to fitness after returning to pre-season training late on the back of his Copa America win with Argentina in July. Messi had a bittersweet summer, finally winning his first bit of silverware for his country but was essentially forced out of the club he joined in 2001.
According to Spanish paper AS, he wasn’t allowed to take everything from his locker after returning to the Nou Camp to clear it out. It’s reported that he wasn’t able to leave with the trophy he won for being named the best player in the 2018 Joan Gamper match.
Messi received said award for a game against Boca Juniors in which he scored a goal and assisted another. Messi’s side won 3-0.
“[Messi] could not take all the objects that he still had inside…Among the items he had to leave behind was the award he received for the best player of the 2018 Joan Gamper Trophy match,” the report states.
Messi’s locker will likely have a new owner this season. The only things left there are his No.10 on the drawer and the aforementioned trophy, which sits at the top and leans against the wall. Messi won over 40 major individual awards, as well as 35 trophies, during his time at Barca. The club did not reveal their reason for not allowing him to take the trophy in question with him to Paris.
But Messi often goes to Miami during the off-season to vacation so surely he’d enjoy playing there when he nears retirement. Yes, Messi seems to Inter Miami seems like a foregone conclusion once he’s done playing at PSG. And don’t forget, Inter Miami owner David Beckham, said Messi was the greatest of all time and not his former teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo.