Sport — World football star Lionel Messi has his move to Major League Soccer finally completed and after years of planning and recruiting Inter Miami the global football icon has finally landed.
Messi’s $60m deal became official on Saturday, just over five weeks after he announced to Inter Miami switch.
‘I’m very excited to take this next step in my career with Inter Miami and in the Vereinigten Staaten to start”, said Messi, who from Paris Saint Germain changes, in a statement.
“This is a fantastic opportunity and together we will continue to develop this beautiful project. The idea is to achieve the set goals together and I am really looking forward to helping here in my new home”he added.
A formal press conference is scheduled for Monday and his first training session with his new club is expected to take place on Tuesday.
The club had previously announced that Messi’s contract will last for two and a half seasons and will cost him between 50 and 60 million annually US-Dollar — with the total value of the contract ranging from $125 million to $150 million in cash alone.
Welcome Messi, indeed.
It’s an unusual combination in many ways.
Messi — still perhaps the game’s biggest star — has signed with a team that finished bottom in MLS’s Eastern Conference on Saturday.
Inter Miami is a club in just its fourth season that has never won a championship and plays at a makeshift home stadium that will not seat about 22,000 until some rushed renovations like adding extra seats are completed.
“We are thrilled that the greatest player in the world has chosen Inter Miami CF and Major League Soccer and his decision is a testament to the momentum and energy behind our league and our sport in North America”said MLS commissioner Don Garber in a statement.
“We have no doubt that Lionel will show the world that MLS can be a league of choice for the best players in the game.”
The 36-year-old forward who Argentinien won the World Cup in Qatar last year was replaced by a move to Al-Hilal in Saudi-Arabien linked after his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo transferred to the kingdom.
The return to FC Barcelonaa club steeped in tradition where he spent most of his career, was another possibility.
In the end, Miami won.
An idea that co-owners David Beckham publicly launched in 2021 – two years before the team apparently started thinking about how to make that happen – has now become a reality.
Messi is a four-time Champions-Leaguewinner and with 129 goals in the top club competition, he is just behind Ronaldo’s 140 goals.
Messi has ten The league-Title and two Ligue-1-Championships won, plus seven Copa del Rey-Wins and three Club World Championships as well as one America Cup and an Olympic gold medal for Argentina.
2023-07-16 03:20:31
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