Have Inter Miami revealed Lionel Messi’s shirt number? MLS side appear to hint in birthday post
- Lionel Messi is expected to play his first game for Inter Miami on July 21
- And the MLS team appeared to have said what his new shirt number will be
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Inter Miami appeared to tease Lionel Messi’s new shirt number as they wished their incoming superstar a happy 36th birthday on Saturday.
The Major League Soccer team tagged Messi in an Instagram graphic saying ‘Feliz Complio’ – Spanish for ‘happy birthday’ with the number ’10’ instead of ‘io’.
Messi, of course, is synonymous with the No 10 shirt from his all-conquering, trophy-laden time with Barcelona and it is also his number when plays for Argentina.
At Paris Saint-Germain, however, he had to wear No 30 as his favored No 10 shirt was already taken by Brazil attacker Neymar.
Fortunately though, the No 10 shirt is currently vacant and Miami – it was last worn by Messi’s former Argentina teammate Gonzalo Higuain, who retired at the end of last season.
There has been no official confirmation of Messi’s shirt number yet – indeed, he still has some minor details of his move to iron out before he is 100% an Inter Miami player but that is expected to be a formality.
The team are hoping he will make his debut for them on July 21 in the Leagues Cup competition, where they will face Mexican team Cruz Azul.
At present, Messi is on vacation with his family after finishing the 11-month season in Europe with PSG. That campaign, of course, was put on hold for a month in 2022 for the World Cup, where Messi spearheaded Argentina’s charge to glory.
His wife, Antonella, shared a picture of her with Messi and their three sons to celebrate his birthday. She wrote on Instagram ‘Happy Birthday my love, we love you infinitely.’
On Friday, Miami also announced the signing of Messi’s good friend and former Barcelona teammate, Spain midfielder Serigo Busquets in another stunning move both for the team and for MLS itself.
They announced the move with an identical style of graphic that appears to show Messi’s new number.
The number Messi takes at Miami has a genuine level of significance as jersey sponsor adidas are contributing to the financial side of the deal.
Messi will take a cut of the shirts sold with his name on the back and AppleTV will also pay him for the TV subscriptions they sell from fans paying to watch him.
And reports emerged in Spain on Saturday that Miami are now shifting attention on a move for the Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba, in what would be another eye-catching move.
But in the meantime, Miami need to focus on getting better in MLS.
The team currently sits in last place in the Eastern Conference with a miserable points tally of 15 from 17 games, eight behind the playoff places.
They play later on Saturday, away against Philadelphia Union.
