Reports say Messi to possibly sign with Miami

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Jun 2023 20:14

According to several media outlets, the Argentinian superstar may likely reject a major Saudi deal and move to Inter Miami instead.

Lionel Messi after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Champions League Group H soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Maccabi Haifa. (AP)

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is set to join Inter Miami, a club co-owned by David Beckham, according to reports on Wednesday.

Last week, the MLS club refused to confirm the transfer of the champion, with a possible deal with Saudi Arabia being a possibility.

The BBC, the Independent, and Marca, among others, mentioned Miami as Messi's next club after his two-year contract with French Ligue 1 winner Paris Saint-Germain expired last month.

Messi has not yet announced where he was going but rumors have recently surfaced that he would be joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and N'Golo Kante on a Saudi Arabia deal.

Sources told AFP Sunday that senior officials from Saudi club Al-Hilal attempted to lure Messi into a deal after his last game on the weekend.

A source close to the deals told AFP that Saudi Arabia has a list of soccer superstars it intends on luring into its league. The source noted that names include Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, Tottenham's Hugo Lloris, and his France teammate N'Golo Kante.

Saudi Arabia aspires to host the world cup in 2030 or 2034 despite accusations of sports washing to help clean its reputation of human rights abuses.

Inter Miami fired coach Phil Neville last week and replaced him with Messi's countryman Javier Morales.

The Miami team, which has a significant South American fan base, now has an Argentine flavor to it; in addition to Morales, goalkeeping coach Sebastian Saja played four times for Argentina and eight years with Argentine club San Lorenzo.