Reporter Kim Dong-yoon of Star News | 2023.06.08 07:31
‘God of football’ Lionel Messi (36) took on a new challenge, without returning to his former team Barcelona. The destination is Inter Miami CF of the American Major League Soccer (MLS), owned by the famous star David Beckham (48). However, the football god exploded the emotions of football fans by leaving romantic words until the moment he left Europe. Messi said in an interview with Spanish media Dario Sports and Mundo Deportivo on the 7th (Korea time), “I’ve decided to leave Europe. I’m going to Miami.”
“It’s true that I received an offer from another European team, but in Europe, Barcelona was my only option, so I didn’t even think about other clubs,” he said fondly.
This is a somewhat surprising official announcement made a few hours after the British BBC announced that “Messi is leaving Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and joining Inter Miami.”
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The new next chapter of football, it looked like Barcelona or Al Hilal
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Messi, whose contract with PSG recently expired, wanted to return to his home team, Barcelona. The president of Barcelona, Juan Laporta, also tried to recruit him by encouraging his best friend, coach Xabi Hernandez, to capture his heart. The second option was Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia. Recently, the Spanish media Sports reported that “Saudi club Al Hilal has offered Messi an extraordinary 400 million euros in annual salary alone. If the player signs the final contract, an announcement will be made on the 6th.”
But Messi’s destination was not Barcelona or Al-Hilal. First of all, Barcelona failed Messi again this time due to a poor financial situation that has not changed much from the moment he left two years ago. In the 2021-2022 season, Messi left Barcelona in Spain’s Primera Liga, where he had played for 21 years, and headed for PSG in France’s Ligue 1 1. This is because the negligent management of Barcelona has made it impossible for Messi to afford a 50% weekly pay cut in order to stay with his parent team.
On the afternoon of the 6th, Messi’s father and agent, Jorge Messi, was even seen meeting with President Laporta, but the disagreement could not be reduced. The BBC said: “Messi wanted to return to Barcelona, but it was impossible to bring him because of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions that will be implemented in La Liga next season.”
Messi did not want to repeat the memory of two years ago again. “I was afraid it would happen again. I really wanted to go back to Barcelona and I’m glad I could, but after what happened two years ago, I didn’t want to be in the same situation again,” he admitted honestly. He added, “(For me) I heard that players had to be sold or their wages reduced, but I didn’t want to go through that and get something out of it.”
Even Al-Hilal, who came with a bundle of money, could not fulfill Messi’s dream. On the other hand, Miami recently made an attractive offer to Messi by partnering with two major American players. Another media outlet, The Athletic, said, “Apple TV+, an over-the-air (OTT) video service launched by Apple, has been selected as an MLS relay for 10 years starting this year. They offered to share a portion of the revenue season ticket). to Messi Also, the famous sports brand Adidas We want to share the profits we get through MLS with Messi,” he said in detail.
Based on this, the BBC said, “Messi already owns a house in Miami, and has been attracted for various reasons, including lifestyle and contracts with big brands beyond football.” Messi also drew the line, saying, “If it was a matter of money, I would have gone to Saudi Arabia or somewhere else. The truth is that my final decision is somewhere other than money.”
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Life in Europe, not Barcelona, Messi meaningless “It’s time to enjoy everyday life more”
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When Messi decided to go to Miami, USA after long deliberation, a chapter in his football life ended. After joining the Barcelona youth team in 2000, Messi made his debut in the first team in 2004 and announced the beginning of a legend.
In 17 seasons at Barcelona, he took part in 778 games and scored 672 goals and 305 assists, and scored 102 goals in 174 games while wearing the Argentinian national team uniform. With a total of 806 goals certified by the International Football Federation (FIFA), he is second in all-time scoring behind Cristiano Ronaldo (38, Al Nasr), and is the most goals scored in Barcelona and Argentina.
His winning career was also brilliant, and he lifted 35 championship trophies, including 10 league titles, 4 UEFA Champions League titles and 7 Copa del Rey (FA Cup) titles in Barcelona alone. Even in his short PSG life, he won the league championship for two consecutive years. Last year, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he finally won the World Cup trophy and achieved everything a footballer could achieve.
The BBC said, “Messi’s legacy stems from his time at Barcelona and leading Argentina to victory in the World Cup last December. It was not very successful.”
Messi also smiled brightly, saying, “After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barcelona, I felt it was time to play football in a different way and enjoy everyday life more in MLS.”
[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
