Messi, Inter Miami complete new contract

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP):

Lionel Messi has finally agreed to a new contract with Inter Miami, a deal that required several months to complete and ensures that the sport’s biggest icon will be with the Major League Soccer club for its planned move into a new stadium next year.

The deal was announced on Thursday, one day before Inter Miami’s playoff opener against Nashville last night.

The team announced the move in a social media post, one showing Messi signing the contract inside the new stadium that remains under construction. “HE’S HOME,” the team said in the post.

“It makes me really happy to stay here and to continue with this project that, besides being a dream, has become a beautiful reality – playing in this stadium, at Miami Freedom Park,” Messi said in remarks distributed by the club. “Since I arrived in Miami, I’ve been very happy, so I’m truly glad to keep going here.”

Ticket sales

Inter Miami said it was a three-year deal through 2028. The notion of Messi playing two or three more seasons certainly would serve as a boost to ticket sales at the stadium the team has been building near Miami International Airport. The team has been selling ticket packages and taking deposits on seats in the new park for more than a year, all with the assumption that Messi would remain part of the franchise.

His decision to stay in Miami is big for both the club and for MLS. Messi was the league’s MVP last season and is the overwhelming choice to win the award again this year, which would make him only the second two-time winner in league history and the first to win it in back-to-back years. Preki won the MVP award in 1997 and 2003.

“To enjoy him, watching him enjoy doing the things he is doing, he’s very, very competitive and he tries to translate that to the team,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said on Thursday. “The best way to help him is trying to do the right things ... he has to be comfortable on the pitch. He’s comfortable when things are working in the right way.

“With him, when we do things the right way, we’ll have many chances to have success.”

Messi won MLS’ Golden Boot this season after scoring 29 goals, five more than LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Nashville’s Sam Surridge. He also had 19 assists, and his 48 total goal contributions was one shy of matching the MLS record of 49 set by Carlos Vela in 2019.

This season, Messi had multiple goals in five consecutive games – making him the first MLS player to achieve such a feat – and had 10 multi-goal games, another league record. The previous mark was eight such games.

“We promised our fans that we would dream big to build an iconic club. A club that represents the passion, hard work and dedication of all those that came before us to create a Miami built on dreams,” Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said. “Leo signing through 2028 is an ode to our amazing city.”

Messi is 38, which makes this contract likely his last as a professional player. He has spent well over half his life playing at the pro level, making his debut with Barcelona as a 17-year-old in 2004.