July 17 – Messi mania erupted at the weekend when 20,000 fans braved a downpour at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale to see Lionel Messi officially presented as Inter Miami’s new superstar signing.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has been given the number 10 shirt and promised that even at 36 he still had the “same desire” he always did.
The World Cup-winning Argentine joins the Major League Soccer (MLS) club on a deal until 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.
Managing the team will be former Argentina and Mexico manager Gerardo Martino who also managed Messi and Busquets for a season at Barcelona. Martino has previously managed in the MLS at Atlanta United.
Messi entered the pitch at Inter Miami’s temporary home via a huge catwalk and was introduced as “America’s number 10, the world’s best number 10”.
“I really want to start training, to compete,” Messi said after joining from Paris St Germain. “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.”
Messi turned down lucrative offers from other countries in order to play in the US – the first time he has joined a non-European club.
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham hailed Messi’s signing as a “dream come true” while Don Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer, said someone of Messi’s status was a “transformational moment”, and he hoped the signing would “shout to the world that this is a soccer nation”.
“It’s been so many years of developing this league into becoming a player on the global stage, so it’s a very momentous night for us,” Garber added.
Messi is expected to make his debut in the Concacaf Leagues Cup (the new MLS/LigaMX inter-league competition that pauses both leagues’ regular seasons July 21 to August 19) against Cruz Azul on July 22.
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