After two years at PSG, Lionel Messi takes the direction of the United States and Inter Miami, here are the details of his contract.
Lionel Messi did not respond to the sirens of Saudi Arabia. After Ronaldo, who was waiting for him, and the arrival of Benzema, the Gulf country dreamed of acquiring the multiple Ballon d’Or. Finally, the Pulga decided to take the path of the United States and Inter Miami, owned by David Beckham, and also leave FC Barcelona aside. Last of the MLS, the club is still under construction and does not yet have a stadium in its name, but the ambition remains great around this sporting city.
To be able to acquire Lionel Messi (the Pulga will sign a three-year contract with Inter Miami, with the possibility of leaving after two seasons in the event of consensus between the two parties. This should take him to 2025 or 2026 ) the entire MLS has mobilized and put its hands in the pocket as explained by The Athletic. The Argentine’s contract also includes some juicy benefits. The world champion will obviously have a protected status, that of “designated player” authorized for three players per squad. This rule allows franchises to set the salary they want, without risking exceeding the salary cap. Messi should receive between 50 and 60 million euros per season according to sources. To help fund this huge salary, Inter Miami has partnered with Adidas and Apple, with whom it has signed two agreements. In detail, the MLS and Apple pay additional income to the Argentinian according to the income generated by the TV rights of the championship, broadcast on Apple TV. But that’s not all. Messi could take a stake in his new team and become one of its shareholders
Argentinian by birth, Lionel Messi touched his first balls at Grandioli FC, the club where his father trained. Between 1994 and 2000, it was with the formation of Newell’s Old Boys that he continued his training as a footballer, managing to be spotted in Europe. It was FC Barcelona who set their sights on the then 13-year-old player.
Year after year, Lionel Messi asserts himself within the Catalan club: Barça junior, Barça C, Barça B… then the great Barça, with whom he started on October 16, 2004, during a derby against Espanyol de Barcelona. A real fairy tale then begins: 17 seasons with the Blaugranas, 778 matches, 672 goals, records and titles galore… Messi becomes the idol of Camp Nou and the world of football, obsessed with his rivalry with a another big name of the moment: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ten Spanish championships with Barça, four Champions Leagues, three Club World Cups or seven King’s Cups, the Spanish Cup… the story is idyllic and allowed him to win, during those years, six golden balls, including four consecutively. If he seemed forever linked to Barça, Messi finally had to change his shirt. In the summer of 2021, Barcelona can no longer afford the salary of the Pulga. Exit the red and blue of the Catalan club, hello red and blue… of Paris Saint-Germain.
Lionel Messi joins PSG on Tuesday August 10, 2021. This is a huge blow for the Parisian club which is entering a new era with the arrival of the Argentinian. Messi quickly finds his place in the game system and continues the matches, even if he is less decisive than with Barça. Nevertheless, the attacking trio formed with Mbappé and Neymar shakes many Ligue 1 defenses.
Came with the aim of turning PSG over in the Champions League, Lionel Messi cannot prevent the capital club from being eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2021-2022 edition against Real Madrid and then the next against Bayern Munich. In the meantime, he will have lifted the World Cup after a final as spectacular as it is brutal against his teammate Kilian Mbappé and the France team.
After Maradona, Argentina therefore inherited another footballing genius in the person of Lionel Messi. But if the 2022 World Cup brought La Pulga the last title that was missing from its list, the weather has not always been good with the selection. There have been many meetings where the striker has not shone and displayed a level of play below his performance with Barça. The differences in context between daily club life and international periods have often been felt, even if Messi has always displayed a certain efficiency.
His skill in front of goal will nevertheless allow Lionel Messi to score 98 goals against his opponents in the Albiceleste jersey, making it the national record holder. Unhappy finalist of the World Cup in 2014 and of the Copa America three times, Messi had to wait until 2021 to triumph with Argentina, during the Copa America, before being crowned world champion in 2022 in Qatar. Also note a coronation at the 2008 Olympics.
Paris Saint-Germain had to take out the checkbook to attract the planetary star to its ranks. According to the Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, author of a biography on the Argentine number 10, Lionel Messi would receive 30 million euros net per year at PSG.
