Inter Miami CF “aspire to” Lionel Messi transfer

This is certainly not the first time Messi’s name has been linked to Inter Miami, nor will it likely be the last. Though should he come to MLS, his global profile and reach would surely reach another tier beyond mega-signings of years past like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Thierry Henry and more.

Were Messi to join Inter Miami, he would likely command a Designated Player spot. The club could enter the 2023 season with up to three openings there given a contract option on striker Gonzalo Higuain, Rodolfo Pizarro’s uncertain status and the expiring contract on Alejandro Pozuelo. Of the three, Pozuelo seems most likely to return after a recent trade from Toronto FC.

DP math aside, as Inter Miami chief business officer Xavier Asensi put it, Messi is in a different tier and would be a transformative player both for the league and the club’s aspirations.

“What we’re looking for is to be the reference point for football in the U.S., and to do that, the important thing is the players and the show that you can put on,” said Asensi, a former Barca executive, in an interview with El Mundo Deportivo. “To do so, you need the best players, and having them is a genuine objective at this club. In terms of Leo Messi, there’s him and then there’s everyone else.”

Messi was linked to Inter Miami this past May, though reports of him potentially getting a large ownership stake in IMCF upon moving to the Florida-based club in the summer of 2023 were spiked and dubbed “completely false.”

But great anticipation will always follow Messi’s transfer market future, and Inter Miami have shown considerable progress in their third year as a club. With plans to build a 25,000-seat stadium at the ​​Miami Freedom Park project for 2025, perhaps Messi would ring in the new venue.

For more from Mas, check out the full interview here.