Lionel Messi to Inter Miami part of proposed 5-year Barcelona contract.
New York — Lionel Messi to Inter Miami part of proposed 5-year Barcelona contract.
It’s time for the latest installment of the popular Lionel Messi to MLS rumor mill. A report out of Spain details the proposed Barcelona contract for Messi, which would include two more seasons on the field for the Catalan giants, two seasons with Inter Miami CF and six additional years in a yet to be defined off field role.
Catalan-based daily SPORT reports Barcelona and Messi have agreed on the length of the contract, reportedly a 10-year deal is for $293 million, as well as his compensation as a player. What needs to be worked out is what the Argentine attacker will be paid in his post-playing career.
“Lionel Messi’s renewal is going well,” Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday. “It’s not done, but it’s going well.”
Given the David Beckham factor, Miami as one of the more desirable landing spots for a global icon and Inter Miami’s willingness to splash cash on big names, there’s certainly reason to give such a rumor credence.
Here’s where there’s reason to be skeptical, though. The report indicates Messi would be paid $73 million per year as an Inter Miami player. In comparison, Zlatan Ibrahimovic received an annual base salary of $7.2 million in his final season with the LA Galaxy and was the highest paid player in MLS in 2019.
Messi, who has publicly expressed interest in playing in MLS “someday,” was also linked to a possible move to New York City FC in a similarly structured deal that would have saw Messi reunited with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City first.
The Barca president, who was elected off the back of promises to keep Messi, had previously suggested that money wasn’t an issue for the striker.
“We are preparing a proposal that with the [financial] limitations of the club can convince Messi [to stay]. He loves the club and we are all preparing whatever it takes for him to stay at Barca,” he said in May.
“We can make an offer within our [financial] possibilities. Leo deserves much more and could earn more elsewhere, but I’m convinced he values the effort we’re making and would like to stay.”
