This is the biggest move in MLS history. Leo Messi has shocked the European, Middle Eastern, and America football worlds as he’s decided to join Inter Miami over his beloved Barca or a Saudi Arabian club.
So, Inter Miami are about to win 2-3 straight MLS titles now, right?
Lionel Messi has just made the biggest decision in the history of football/soccer in North America’s young history as the former PSG forward has decided to reject offers from other European clubs, hundreds of millions of dollars from the Saudi Pro League, and even an offer from his beloved Barcelona to join Inter Miami. And, even though I’m sad to see yet another legend of the game leave Europe for a career overseas, I’m happy Messi choose to continue his career in the United States.
I’d be lying if I told you I was an avid fan of the MLS or the teams in the division, even though I live in an area that supports an established franchise (New England Revolution), as the quality of football was just lacking during the days when I really got into the sport and learning about the leagues all across the world.
Nevertheless, having a superstar talent like Messi come to the MLS not only improves the quality of football on display when you watch Inter Miami games, but it also makes the league 20X more marketable than even when David Beckham, who also happens to own Inter Miami, joined the LA Galaxy.
Leo Messi currently has 469M followers on Instagram and 3.4M followers on Twitter, which combined is more than every single team in the MLS (added up), more than the entire population of the state of Florida (20.17M people) by a factor of approximately 22, and more than every single Premier League team combined by a factor of 2, double the follower counts of Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid, more than the entire population of the United States (331.9M people), and is the second-most followed person (3rd most followed account) on the platform.
To say Leo Messi brings hundreds of millions of eyeballs around the world with him wherever he plays would be an understatement. I mean, PSG, the largest club in France and the most successful these last fifteen years, lost nearly 2M followers in a single day the moment the final whistle blew in Messi’s last game with the club.
That’s how huge of an impact Messi brings to football in whichever country he’s playing in.
So, it makes sense that Inter Miami are bringing in Apple, Addidas, and the very league itself to offer Messi a contract that has been rumored to not only give him profit sharing rights with all three entities, but also the rights to purchase a portion of the league itself upon his retirement/exit of the league. That’s INSANE!
And, if the rumors are true that Messi’s former Barca teammates and legends of the club in their own right, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, are set to join Inter Miami after an emotional goodbye to Barcelona a few weeks ago, then Inter Miami really could be a powerhouse in the MLS for the next 2-3 years.
We’ll have to wait and see if all of these contract negotiations, potential deals, and potential transfers come to fruition, but Leo Messi joining Inter Miami and the MLS is reason enough to celebrate for North American and MLS football/soccer fans.
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