Phil Neville comments on Lionel Messi rumors, Mota surgery

Like the rest of the soccer world, Inter Miami coach Phil Neville and his players are well aware that Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is considering a move to their club, but they have more pressing matters heading into a Saturday home game against Atlanta United.

“At the start of the season it was on a lot of players’ minds,” Neville said after training on Thursday. “Every time we were signing or talking to a player, that question was always asked. Because of the run we have right now, we haven’t got time to think about what’s going to happen in July.

“There are people in the club working tirelessly with what are we going to do in July. We’ve got to focus on the next period of games because if we start looking too far ahead, we’ll end up in a really poor position. The speculation is exciting. It’s interesting. But that’s not for us. We focus on the next game.”

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Messi is expected to leave Paris Saint-Germain when his contract expires in June. He is weighing a return to FC Barcelona, a long-discussed move to Inter Miami, and a reported $400 million deal with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.

Miami snapped a six-game losing streak with a 2-1 win at Columbus last Saturday and five of the next seven games are at home.

Mota out four to six months

Starting midfielder Jean Mota tore his right lateral collateral knee ligament during the game against Columbus, will have surgery Friday and is expected to be out for four to six months. He felt the pain heading into a tackle in the fifth minute of the game, but played the remainder of the match and had an assist in the 2-1 win.

It is a huge loss as the team was already missing captain and midfielder Gregore, who is out six months after foot surgery. The Brazilian duo were among the strongest players on the roster.

“It’s devastating for him because he was playing so well, he was in his best period for the club in terms of his consistency,” Neville said. “Without Gregore we needed someone to step up and Mota was taking ownership of that midfield. When you talk about courage and bravery, to play 85 minutes with a snapped lateral ligament shows the courage of that boy. We will miss him.”

Victor Ulloa, David Ruiz, Benja Cremaschi are candidates to step in. Rodolfo Pizarro and Robert Taylor can also play that spot, though Pizarro is dealing with a hamstring injury.

Pizarro had tightness in hamstring after the U.S. Open Cup game against Miami FC last Wednesday. He trained the following two days, but felt tightness again during warmups on Saturday, so he was held out of the Columbus game. “It’s day-to-day,” Neville said. “He could probably play through it, but we’re entering a stretch of seven to eight games in a month, so we can’t afford muscle injuries. It will be a late call on Rodolfo.”

This story was originally published May 04, 2023 2:32 PM.