Lionel Messi: After deciding to leave PSG at the end of last season, there were many speculations around Lionel Messi’e future. In a dramatic turn of events, he joined the MLS side Inter Miami a few weeks ago. Since announcing his move to the MLS side, Leo Messi went to fulfill his duty for his national team. From there, he has gone to enjoy his vacation. As per the Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas, Messi will make his debut for the club on July 21st.
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Lionel Messi has made the decision to leave Europe at the age of soon-to-be 36 years. After deciding to leave PSG near the end of last season, he received interest from his childhood club Barcelona and the Saudi club Al-Hilal. Several reports say that Al-Hilal offered the player over €500 million per season. However, as Leo Messi announced his decision to join Inter Miami, he said that he wanted to join Barcelona. However, he did not receive any solid offer from them.
Leo Messi did not want to leave everything till the last day. Hence, he joined the MLS side for a €50-55 million fee. Following his announcement, he travelled to China to fulfill his national duty with the Argentina team. From there, he left to spend his holidays. In the meantime, Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said that Messi will make his debut for the club on 21st July in their League Cup match against Liga MX’s Cruz Azul. The match is set to be held at their temporary home DRV PNK Stadium.
There has been a huge demand for Messi’s debut match. During an interview, Mas informed Miami Herald that they are working on their stadium to make it suitable for his debut match and following matches. He said, “We have already contracted to fill in the corners of the stadium that should increase capacity by approximately 3,000 to 3,200 seats [to a capacity of around 22,000]. We are gearing up to do that work in the next four weeks. Every game will be sold out. The demand for tickets has been 10 times what we can handle on a season ticket basis.”
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This demand has been a matter of concern for many people. They have been wondering if Inter Miami will be able to give proper security to the player. Responding to the doubts, Mas said, “As you may recall, Argentina trained in Miami before they flew over to Doha [for last year’s World Cup]. Where we had an opportunity to see some of the Messi mania at our doors on an everyday basis during practice. So, we’re very prepared. We’ve been getting ready for this.”
Mas also believes this demand depicts how Messi can change the face of football in the USA. He said, “I think there will always be a before and after Messi when we talk about the sport in the United States. I have a very, very strong-held belief that we can create in North America and the United States, if not the greatest league, one of the top two leagues in the world. I cannot overemphasize the magnitude of this announcement.”
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