‘I’ve taken the decision that I am going to Miami’ – Lionel Messi on joining MLS and refusing to move to Barcelona

In discussions with Spanish media on June 7, Lionel Messi said that he will join with Major League Soccer team Inter Miami rather than return to Barcelona or accept a record-breaking contract to play in Saudi Arabia. The 35-year-old Argentine attacker, who spent most of his career at Barcelona, spent the previous two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain before leaving the club on Saturday.

Given Barcelona’s financial situation, Messi stated that he did not want to wait for them to figure out a way to sign him. Barcelona was unable to keep Messi prior to his transfer to PSG, which resulted in an emotional departure. “I was afraid that it would happen again,” Messi was quoted as saying in Spanish newspapers Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo.

“I’ve taken the decision that I am going to Miami, I don’t have [the deal] 100% sealed or maybe there’s something left to do, but we decided to continue our path there. I decided to leave Europe, it’s true that I had offers from another European team but I didn’t even think about it because in Europe, my idea was only to go to Barcelona,” the 35-year-old stated.

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“After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it’s time to go to MLS to live football in a different way and enjoy my day to day life more. Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to win, and to do things well, but with more calm,” the Argentine skipper asserted.

Messi has won the Ballon d’Or seven times and is predicted to do it again after guiding Argentina to World Cup victory in Qatar in December 2022. After PSG announced this week that Messi, who is widely regarded as the greatest player in football history, would be leaving, the whole football world was anxiously expecting his choice.

With the team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Inter Miami, co-owned by former England great David Beckham, fired coach Phil Neville last week. Argentine Javier Morales took over on an interim basis. Messi chose to join MLS, choosing sunny Miami, a location he has vacationed in before, over the romanticism of a return to Barcelona and the possibility of stunning fortunes in Saudi Arabia.