After the explosion of joy for the upcoming arrival of Lionel Messi, Miami fans will still have to wait to witness the debut of the Argentine idol in the local Inter uniform, which will hardly take place before the end of July.
“I made the decision to go to Miami,” Messi announced on Wednesday, unleashing a wave of enthusiasm in the sunny Florida city, where most of Inter’s MLS games were quickly sold out.
The stars of the other Miami sports teams such as Jimmy Butler, who these days leads the Heat in the NBA Finals, joined the welcome.
However, Messi himself pointed out in his interview with the Barcelona newspapers Sport and Mundo Deportivo that the agreement with Inter Miami is not “100% closed”.
Completing these complex negotiations, in which there are more parties involved, and the player’s commitments to the Argentine team are the reasons why Miami fans will have to be patient.
There is still a lot of work to be done for the deal, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told AFP.
The player, who until this month belongs to the Paris Saint-Germain, he first has to sign a contract to join MLS and that can be a long process, given the unique structure and regulations of the North American league.
MLS operates under a collective agreement with its players’ union, which sets salary limits, but the agreement with Messi would also cover a number of other exclusive issues that will need the attention of lawyers for both parties.
As part of the proposal to attract Messi, who also considered returning to Barcelona and had a huge offer from Saudi Arabia, the player could receive income from fan subscriptions to the Apple TV + season pass, the platform that broadcasts MLS games since this year.
Beyond an initial post on their social media, Inter Miami have not commented on the negotiations with Messi or responded to requests for comment, suggesting their desire to seal the deal before popping the champagne.
MLS commissioner Don Garber stressed Thursday on Twitter that they are “impatient to welcome” Messi.
“We are pleased that Lionel Messi has indicated his intention to join Inter Miami and MLS this summer,” the league said in a brief statement on Wednesday. “Although there is still work to finalize a formal agreement, we are looking forward to welcoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time to our League.”
Debut against Cruz Azul?
Completing the paperwork before the beginning of next week, and thus being able to officially announce the agreement, would require intense work.
The option of a lightning trip for Messi to be presented in Miami could also be complicated, because next week he plans to travel to Asia to play two friendlies with the Argentine team.
The world champions will face Australia in Beijing on June 15 and Indonesia in Jakarta four days later. The most likely scenario, barring a sudden culmination of the negotiations, is that Messi travels to Miami after those games.
And for the most anticipated question, the date of Messi’s debut in the pink jersey of Inter Miami, the most likely bet is the clash on July 21 against the Mexican Cruz Azul.
Messi, who will turn 36 this month, has just finished the season in the French league and also has the wear and tear of Qatar-2022 on his legs, where he won his long-awaited first World Cup. The player might need some time to rest and organize the move of his family to South Florida.
Messi’s presence on the pitch against Cruz Azul would be the highlight of the first day of the Leagues Cup, a tournament in which the 29 MLS teams and the 18 Mexican league teams will compete from this year.
Four days later, Inter will face Thiago Almada’s Atlanta United, Messi’s teammate in the Albiceleste team, in the other game of the Leagues Cup group stage.
In MLS, Inter will return to action hosting Charlotte on August 20, before traveling to Cincinnati for the US Open Cup semifinal. Messi’s first trip would be to New York to face the Red Bulls on August 26. August and the following against Los Angeles FC of Carlos Vela, the defending champion, on September 3.