35-year-old Lionel Messi ended weeks of speculation and confirmed on Wednesday he will be playing for US side Inter Miami CF in a deal that reportedly includes an opportunity to own part of of the MLS side.
Following a decision to leave French side PSG, Messi was linked to moves to both Saudi and Barcelona.
Barcelona represented an emotional return but did not have the massive budget to resign the star who was allegedly offered an unbelievable £2 billion deal with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal. In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, Messi said: ‘I’m not going back to Barça, I’m going to Inter Miami.’
Read: Is Messi signing a contract to play soccer in Saudi imminent?
A Saudi move would have been the most lucrative offer in all of sports that not even stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante could match. The latter two soccer player had already received less than €1 billion over two years.
Big deals in Miami
Messi, winner of 4 Champions League titles and the Qatar 2022 World Cup is reportedly being offered a sizable contract with the MLS club Inter Miami, that could include part ownership and deals with Adidas.
Messi will surely have Apple knocking on his door as well as the huge technology company has MLS streaming rights for the next decade.
THe MLS opening weekend on Apple TV means the future for sports streaming is going to be expensive and Messi instantly makes an MLS Season Pass subscription through Apple TV Plus, much more enticing for a global audience fixated on US soccer in addition to European leagues.
Already, teams across MLS that are set to host Inter Miami this season saw massive movement on ticket sales.
On July 8, Inter Miami will travel to the US capital to face D.C. United which media reports said sold over 3,000 tickets since the news broke.
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