new signature Throngs of fans cheered when Lionel Messi was formally introduced at Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium.
A 20,000-person capacity audience endured rain and lightning as they waited to watch the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner get a number 10 jersey.
Messi, 36, thanked his fans and expressed his “same desire” as always in a brief speech in Spanish.
The World Cup-winning attacker from Argentina has signed a contract with the Major League Soccer (MLS) team till the end of 2025.
He will be reunited with defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets – with whom he played at Barcelona – who has also signed for Miami until 2025.
https://youtu.be/BJ57p2RQTQM
Busquets, too, was formally unveiled during Sunday night’s event.
Messi entered the pitch via a huge catwalk and was introduced as “America’s number 10, the world’s best number 10”.
Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady and four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry also welcomed him to the United States in video messages.
“I really want to start training, to compete,” Messi said. “I have the same desire that I always had to compete, to want to win, to help the club continue to grow.
“I am very happy to have chosen to come to play in this city with my family, to choose this project and I have no doubt that we are going to enjoy it a lot.
“We are going to have a good time and very good things are going to happen.”
7-time Awarded the Ballon d’Or Thousands football spectators saw Lionel Messi’s introduction as an Inter Miami player on Sunday night at the DRV PNK Stadium in Miami.
The captain of the 2022 FIFA World Cup team, Lionel Messi, last Saturday formally signed his contract with Inter Miami of Major League Soccer. Five weeks after the 36-year-old originally declared his intention to move on to Inter Miami, Messi’s contract with the MLS team was made official.
The football star then participated in a grand unveiling event at the club’s Miami home stadium, the DRV PNK Stadium.
Lionel Messi Arrived For His Inter Miami Unveiling
Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi is to earn between $50 and $60 million per year when he joins Inter Miami, the club’s part-owner Jorge Mas told Spanish publication El Pais in an interview.
The lower of those figures would make Lionel Messi the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer (MLS) by over $40 million, according to sports salary tracker Spotrac. According to that site, Xherdan Shaqiri currently earns the most in the league with an annual wage of $8,153,000.
According to Forbes, Messi’s potential on-field earnings are dwarfed by those of his longtime foe Cristiano Ronaldo, who received a $75 million playing wage after joining the Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
Mas revealed to El Pais that the 35-year-old’s salary will be boosted by the promise of becoming a member of the club’s ownership once he retires, as well as a share of the revenue from the team’s sales of Adidas uniforms and Apple TV’s MLS broadcasting arrangement.
The managing owner noted that the Apple TV stipulation was “very important” in the completion of an agreement.
Mas revealed to El Pais that negotiations around Messi’s arrival lasted three years, involving Messi’s father and agent, Jorge, as well as Mas’ fellow co-owner David Beckham, who spoke to Messi “only about the football side of things.”
The owners are bullish about the league’s potential for growth following Messi’s arrival, with Mas stating in the El Pais interview that the World Cup-winning captain’s arrival “will elevate the league to another level” into “one of the two or three best leagues in the world.”
With regard to other players joining Messi and Inter Miami, Mas confirmed that former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets has signed to the team as “it was important for us to surround Messi with players of his caliber.”
Mas detailed that two more of Messi’s former Barcelona teammates had been in talks with Inter Miami. Mas named Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez as players the team had talked to, as well as Messi’s compatriot Angel Di Maria, most recently of Juventus.
Messi is reportedly due to make his debut for the club on July 21 against Mexican side Cruz Azul.
Lionel Messi, the Argentine superstar and the new striker for Inter Miami CF, landed at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
As Lionel Messi and his family descended from the plane, everything was caught on camera. They moved swiftly toward a waiting black truck that was only a short distance from the aircraft.
Inter Miami asked followers on Twitter to be ready for a big announcement on July 16. During this reveal, Messi is anticipated to be introduced to the crowd at DRV PNK Stadium.
Team officials said the event would include “exciting entertainment, speeches on the pitch and more.”
A debut game for Messi on July 21 is another goal for Inter Miami.
In anticipation of Messi making his club debut on July 21, some tickets for the Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul on the 21st are selling for more than $10,000 each on secondary markets.
When the superstar revealed he would be joining MLS, he stunned the entire globe.
After spending two years with Paris Saint-Germain, the seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, which is awarded yearly to the world’s finest player, made the decision to join MLS.
Messi, who recently turned 36, led Argentina to the World Cup triumph in December, completing the one important unchecked box on his CV.
Lionel Messi has finally opted to join Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, rejecting a sizable offer from Saudi Arabia in the process.
Fans are now yearning to find out what specifically about the U.S. league’s offer convinced Lionel Messi to make the decision. The 35-year-old superstar has been deliberating on his future team since choosing to end his two-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi spent his time in Paris without ever taking home a Champions League trophy, but he did manage to lead Argentina to victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, demonstrating that his skills are still among the best in the world.
According to the player, his deal is almost finalized, thus The Sporting News is providing you with all the information we are aware of on his agreement with Inter Miami and Major League Soccer.
Messi contract & salary with Inter Miami, MLS
The contract offer Messi allegedly accepted from MLS team Inter Miami is now unknown very little.
According to the Spanish newspaper Sport, Messi has been given a four-year contract, although Matteo Moretto of Relevo thinks it “should be” a two-year arrangement. Almost no precise information on his contract’s financials is available, and there isn’t much else.
It seems unlikely that Messi, who is 35 years old, would agree to a four-year contract with any team, but there may be valid justifications. For the initial part of his deal, Messi may be loaned to Barcelona, allowing him to play for the team he loves before concluding his career in Miami. Furthermore, given that a four-year deal would expire after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Messi may be planning to end his career at that tournament.
The Athletic reports that one thing we do know is that Apple and Adidas are both contributing to the deal’s sweetening. Apple has offered a portion of MLS Season Pass subscription earnings, and Adidas has also proposed a profit-sharing deal under which Messi will receive a portion of any gains resulting from his relocation.
The fact that Major League Soccer is a “single entity” means that all contracts with MLS players must be formally filed with the league and not the team. Players are then assigned to teams according to a predetermined procedure.
There was a brief news that MLS had offered Messi some sort of ownership deal when rumors about Lionel Messi and Inter Miami first started to circulate over a year ago.
The majority of reports indicated that Messi would be given a 35 percent stake in Inter Miami, and some further suggested that Major League Soccer might create a franchise option akin to the one David Beckham received when he signed on in 2007, which allowed him to own an expansion team for just $25 million—a tiny fraction of the standard expansion fee.
Messi receiving a Beckham-like offer from MLS to own a team is very improbable given how openly Major League Soccer has discussed how challenging the practicalities of such a relationship turned out to be.
But it’s absolutely feasible that Messi may eventually own a small portion of the Miami team, either now or after he retires. In reality, according to an ESPN story, Messi’s Inter Miami offer includes a possibility of acquiring club stock, but categorically excludes any form of financial assistance akin to what Beckham received.
