• Ligue 1 Boos against Messi during his last match with PSG

"It's crazy. Messi wanted to come back. We wanted him back. But, at least right now, it's impossible. I could wait, but in football nobody waits." This is how they expressed themselves from the dome of the Barça club early yesterday afternoon. The current World Champion with the Albiceleste is determined to accept the temptation of Miami, pending, yes, both to sign their contracts and to make official an agreement that transcends mere sports practice.

Messi, whose link with PSG expires on June 30, never fully believed the siren songs that came from the mobile phone of President Laporta, who received the patriarch, Jorge Messi, last Monday at his home in Barcelona. The meeting did not even arrive at half an hour, and then it was already clear between the parties that, although LaLiga had approved the club's viability plan for the next two years, the entity still had broken the dams of fair play. Subject to the rules of 40% (salary) and 20% (sales) in its operations – it can dedicate in signings the percentage corresponding to what is saved – it must still cut about 250 million to operate normally. And waiting, after what happened two years ago with his abrupt departure from Barcelona, was no longer an option for the Messi family.

Barcelona had planned that Messi was the one who reactivated the economy of the club – "our last great lever", according to sources of the Barça entity – and even intended to offer the striker about 25 million euros gross per season. But, for this, the Argentine would have had to wait for Barcelona to complete several of the planned sales (Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Kessié).

400 million from Al-Hilal

While the mammoth sportswashing plan that Saudi Arabia is carrying out to fill its championship with stars and glitter seemed to have an advantage, the alleged offer of 400 million euros per year from Al-Hilal has not served to convince Messi to play in the emirate.

Miami's plan, which was the one that Messi swept during his last stage with Barcelona, is the one that has ended up convincing him. And there has had a lot to do with the life expectations of his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, in terms of the emotional stability of their three children. The Messi family, in fact, owns a luxurious apartment in Miami.

Messi's earnings in U.S. soccer go far beyond his salary, the amounts of which have yet to be disclosed. But it has transpired that both Adidas and Apple are taking an active role in the operation as promoters of Major League Soccer (MLS). Adidas has signed a technical sponsorship with MLS until 2030, the date of the celebration of the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. This agreement is valued at 778 million euros, and the German brand is responsible for both the equipment of the 29 MLS teams and the provision of the balls.

Audiovisual rights

According to The Athletic, Messi would participate in a part of the profits that his impact on the competition supposed. Apple, meanwhile, is the one who owns the audiovisual rights at the global level of the MLS until 2033, in an agreement estimated at 2,334 million euros. In the talks has been offered the possibility that Messi can obtain revenue from the new registrations to the season pass provided by Apple to follow the league.

MLS would also be interested in Messi being able to participate by acquiring a percentage of one of its franchises in the future. Inter Miami, where David Beckham still retains a small stake, is owned by brothers Jorge and Jose Mas. Jorge Mas, who has also owned Real Zaragoza since March 2022, is one of the most influential figures in Florida's anti-Castro community. It was his father, the Cuban Jorge Mas Canosa, a prominent opponent of the dictatorship of Fidel Castro exiled in the 60s, who built his empire in Miami after taking over Church & Tower, a company that provided the wiring of the telephone and that would end up becoming the current MasTec, one of the main companies in the United States of Latin property.

  • FC Barcelona
  • Leo Messi
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