Miami instead of Riyadh: Messi moves to America and France

Lionel Messi has a new club. © APA / afp / ALAIN JOCARD

World soccer champion Lionel Messi rejects the lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia and instead moves to the United States.

07 June 2023

From: dpa

The world champion is drawn to Inter Miami. This was reported on Wednesday, for example BBC, Sports Illustrated and the Spanish newspaper sports. It had already become known that a move to Al Hilal was “out of the question” for the world record footballer. Major League Soccer and Miami, co-owner David Beckham, appears to have won the race against former Barcelona club Messi.

The MLS representative told the sports portal, the American League has become very creative with its calls the athlete advance. Thus, the MLS bid for Messi includes payments from the league’s biggest sponsors, tech giants Apple and Adidas. It will also be possible to arrange a loan with Messi’s heart club Barcelona due to the different seasons. Major League Soccer has its season break in the winter.

Messi was not happy at PSG. © Ansa / Christophe Petit Tesson

Both MLS and tech giant Apple want to offer Messi a share of the broadcasting revenue. Apple and MLS signed a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal earlier this month. MLS receives a flat fee of about $200 million annually from Apple until it reaches a certain number of subscriptions, and then takes a share of the revenue from those subscriptions. This may now also apply to Messi himself.

In Saudi Arabia, there was a salary of 300 million euros

After two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, the seven-time world footballer left the French champions in the summer. The Argentine’s contract expires on June 30, with Messi on a free transfer. According to media reports, the Saudi club Al-Hilal offered Messi an annual salary of more than 300 million euros.

The offer from USA of $54m (€50.5m) a year, which was rumored to be based solely on a normal salary, seems relatively modest. But even before his move to Paris, rumors circulated that Messi would also guarantee the club’s shares if he signed for Miami.