Lionel Messi ally takes over sporting decisions in Inter Miami shake-up: Sources

Inter Miami president of football operations Raul Sanllehi has been removed from all sporting decisions at the club, a source within the club confirmed to The Athletic on Monday. The source requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the move.

Sanllehi’s duties have been reassigned to the club’s academy director Guillermo Hoyos, a long-time confidant and former academy coach of Inter Miami captain and former Barcelona legend Lionel Messi. GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert first reported news of Sanllehi’s reassignment.

The move follows a report that Sanllehi entered a players and coaches-only bus after Miami’s match against Club America in Las Vegas, a move that led to an “exchange of words” with Messi, according to Bogert’s report. A club source with direct knowledge of the situation, but who was not authorized to speak due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed the incident to The Athletic.

Inter Miami did not respond to a request for comment on Monday evening, but in Bogert’s report, the club denied that Sallehi’s reassignment was caused by the exchange, saying the move was “pre-planned, in coordination with the closing of the window at the end of January and the many activities that the team has with the Club World Cup, World Cup and other matters pertaining to institutional relations.”

Hoyos first worked with Messi while training Barcelona’s U-18 side, from 2000 to 2003. At the time, he likened Messi to Maradona and the two have remained close, with Messi describing Hoyos as his “football godfather” in a 2010 interview. Prior to joining Miami, Hoyos coached in Greece, Colombia, Argentina and the United States, with the North American Soccer League’s Jacksonville Armada.

Sanllehi was brought on board last summer to spearhead the club’s sporting department. That move led to the departure of sporting director Chris Henderson, who joined Atlanta United, and director of scouting Mark Prizant, who joined expansion side San Diego FC as an assistant GM.

Miami is being coached this year by Messi’s former teammate Javier Mascherano, who joined the team after the departure of Tata Martino, who helped lead the club to a Supporters’ Shield title. The move was made in part at the behest of Messi, with Miami owner Jorge Mas saying the Argentine legend had “input” on the hiring.

“I had a specific conversation with him,” Mas told reporters at the time. “Leo gave me what I asked him, which was input. That was Leo’s involvement and engagement with me, which (happens) frankly all the time.”

(Photo: Matias J. Ocner / Miami Herald via Getty Images)