Lionel Messi to Inter Miami negotiations took three years – owner

Inter Miami CF owner Jorge Mas mentioned it took him three years of negotiations to carry Lionel Messi to the Major League Soccer membership.

A 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina, Messi introduced final month he’ll be part of Inter Miami as a free agent after two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.

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“In 2019 [when Messi was still at Barcelona], we started thinking about how we could bring him,” Mas told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

“I spent three years on it, a year-and-a-half [working] very intensely. There were many conversations with [Messi’s father and agent] Jorge. [Inter Miami co-owner] David [Beckham] talked to Leo, only about football issues, because he was a player.”

Messi, 36, had initially thought of a return to Barca, the membership he had left in 2021 due to its monetary disaster, whereas he additionally rejected a profitable deal from Saudi Arabia’s PIF fund to be part of Al-Hilal.

“I saw it as done at the end of May,” Mas mentioned. “I didn’t want him to feel under pressure. We had spoken in Barcelona, Miami, Rosario, Doha … I spent the whole World Cup in Qatar, watching Argentina.

“The Apple contract was crucial to shut the deal.”

MLS broadcast partner Apple recently announced a four-part docuseries on AppleTV+ about Messi’s World Cup journey, from his first tournament appearance in 2006 to eventual trophy in 2022.

Messi, who is on holiday, is expected to sign a contract with Inter Miami until December 2025, with an option year for 2026, while Mas confirmed the forward will earn “between £50 million and $60m per 12 months.”

Mas also confirmed long-standing interest in surrounding Messi with players he is familiar with, including Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. He also said Miami will make “two or three” further signings but played down reports that two of Messi’s close friends — former Barca forward Luis Suarez and Argentina winger Angel Di Maria — could arrive this summer.

“He [Suarez] is underneath contract, he has a clause, and I do not know if this may materialise,” Mas said. “We have additionally spoken to Di Maria however it appears that he’s about to signal for an additional crew.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said Messi did not want to return to the club because he “wished much less strain.”

“I perceive it, however one factor has nothing to do with the opposite,” Laporta told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

“We had an settlement with LaLiga that we’d dedicate a part of the assets we’ve to Messi. It was included within the viability plan. We communicated it to Jorge Messi. He informed me that Leo had had a really tough 12 months in Paris and that he wished much less strain. With our possibility, he would have continued to be underneath strain, and I understood his choice.”