MLS is preparing a strategy to hire Lionel Messi: ‘We will try to take advantage of the opportunity’

Lionel Messi He is having a dream moment after finally becoming world champions in Qatar 2022 with the Argentinian team and being named the best player on the planet by The Best award. However, these days, his future is completely uncertain.

His contract ends at the end of the season and, although Paris Saint Germain have been trying to retain him and have been negotiating for several weeks with Rosario’s entourage, they have not yet managed to reach an agreement and several institutions are at risk. the lookout capable of signing La Pulga.

One that has been on the radar for several years is the InterMiami, a franchise in which former footballer David Beckham is one of its main investors. Faced with this picture of the situation, Don GarberMajor League Soccer (MLS) commissioner, was open to the possibility of signing Messi and anticipated that they would give the Florida franchise flexibility to go through with the deal.

“You may be talking about the most special player in the history of the sport. When there are rumors linking him to Miami, that’s great. If that happened, that would be great for MLS, It would be fantastic for Messi and his family and like everything at home, we try to take advantage of every opportunity. I can’t give more details than that because we don’t have them”, anticipated the main manager of the tournament in dialogue with The Athletic.

Currently, the Argentine is one of the highest paid athletes on the planet and MLS has a salary cap system. Currently the highest paid is Italian Lorenzo Insigne, with $14 million in base salary. However, Garber predicted that “teams have the flexibility to do unique things.”

“MLS is a single entity. If you sell something that belongs to the collective, the collective must approve it. So if Jorge Mas (owner of Inter Miami) decides to create a structure with the help of Todd Durbin (executive vice-president of MLS), if we have the opportunity to do it, it will be outside“warned the leader. And then he added, “We will have to structure a deal that pays him the way he and his family expect. What is it? Honestly, we don’t know today.”

The MLS is a league that is growing from year to year and currently has several renowned personalities, such as the Welshman Gareth Bale, the Italians Giorgio Chiellini, Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, the Swiss Xherdan Shaquiri, the Mexicans Héctor Herrera, Carlos Vela and Chicharito Hernández and the Brazilian Douglas Costa. Previously, Kaká, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham also came through.

Exactly the case with the England midfielder as something similar to what could happen with Lionel Messi. In his signing, they included a clause to buy an MLS expansion franchise for $25 million. “Beckham must have played in MLS for five years. When he arrived, Toronto bought a franchise for 10 million (number 13). We told him that in five years we would have 20 teams and that he would have the option of a 25 million franchise and that he couldn’t be in New York. You have to choose a team and build a stadium. This deal, for me, was very good for MLS,” Garber said.

Remember that at the end of February, it was the coach of Inter Miami, Phil Neville, who was responsible for publicly acknowledging the desire to hire the Argentine striker: “I’m not going to deny it and say there’s no truth to the speculation that we’re interested in Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets.”

Lionel Messi, who turns 36 in June, is one of the pillars of PSG. So far this season, he has played 28 games in the capital’s shirt, in which he has scored 17 goals and provided 16 assists.

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