Lionel Messi expected to debut for Inter Miami on July 21
Inter Miami are still targeting a July 21 debut match for Lionel Messi, though stopped short Thursday of saying that date was guaranteed.
Sporting Director Chris Henderson said that the paperwork for Messi and new coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino is still being processed. Martino was introduced by the team Wednesday but cannot actually begin coaching until his visa process is complete; Messi is expected to sign with the team sometime in early July and there are plans for an introduction event July 16.
“With regard to Leo, the terms are agreed but we are working on the paperwork with Major League Soccer so those are going to take time to finish,” Henderson said. “But we hope that there is a time in mid-late July that he’s ready to go, but that’s just going to be up to how he finishes all the paperwork.”
Some tickets for the July 21 Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul are on the secondary markets for more than $10,000 apiece, clearly in anticipation of it being Messi’s debut with the club. He announced earlier this month that he would be joining MLS.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner — the trophy given annually to the world’s best player — decided to make his move to MLS after two years with Paris Saint-Germain. Messi, who just turned 36, filled the only significant unchecked box on his resume back in December by leading Argentina to the World Cup title.
He is expected to make between $50 million and $60 million annually with Inter Miami, the club confirmed last week.
Messi was in Argentina recently, where he played a couple of friendly matches last weekend — farewell celebrity games to honour former Argentina teammates Juan Riquelme in Buenos Aires and Maxi Rodriguez in Messi’s hometown of Rosario — and is now vacationing in advance of his arrival in South Florida.
Inter Miami are 5-13-0 in MLS play this season, the worst record of the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. Henderson said the team hopes the signings of Messi, Martino and more new players represent “a new beginning for the club.”
“The goal is to make the playoffs this year,” Henderson said.
Messi, Busquets not moving for a holiday: Martino
Martino says there is no question of Messi and Sergio Busquets moving to South Florida to chill on South Beach.
Instead, says the Argentine, the pair are coming to Miami to fight for titles.
Martino, former coach of Messi with Barcelona and Argentina, said he had spoken to the seven-times Ballon d’Or winner and former Spain midfielder Busquets about their impending move to the Major League Soccer club.
“Sometimes in our world you associate United States and Miami with holidays. And it’s not that. They are coming to compete,” he told a press conference on Thursday.
“They are coming from winning world titles, Spanish league titles. They are not going to relax. They will compete because it is in their blood,” he said.
Martino takes over Miami with the club bottom of the Eastern Conference having lost their last seven games. They are ranked 27th out of the 29 clubs in MLS.
The former Mexico and Atlanta United coach said there was still the chance to salvage something from this season, however.
“One is to see if we can make the playoffs. Right now that seems like a stretch, but as long as we have the possibility we can’t stop trying,” he said.
“We are in a good place in the US Open Cup, and now there’s a new tournament, Leagues Cup, that we will aim for. After that, the goal is to build for 2024,” added the coach known as ‘Tata’.
Sporting Director Chris Henderson said the club would be making more changes to their squad in the coming weeks.
“Come late August we’re going to have a different look. This will give the opportunity for Tata and his staff to work with the players in a new way.
“It feels like a new beginning for the club and we’re going to do everything we can to rise up the table game by game,” he added.
Martino won MLS Cup in 2018 with Atlanta United and said he was well aware of what awaited him in the North American league.
“I see a league that is always evolving, a league that has a lot of rules, but they are very clear,” he said.
“It is very level for all the teams, the system of budgets and draft allows all teams at the start to have the same aspirations.
“I like the complexity of the cold of one place, rain of another, heat of another. All that makes you as a coach have to think about more than just managing what happens on the field,” he said.
But Martino believes Messi will transform MLS.
“That the world’s greatest player decides to play in this league, evidently it will open an even greater scenario of growth,” he said.
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