“I made the decision to go to Miami. I still don’t have it 100% closed, something is still missing, but we decided to continue the path there,” Messi said Wednesday in an interview with the Catalan newspapers Sport and Mundo Deportivo.
The Argentine idol also admitted that he was “not happy” in Paris, where lately he was the target of constant booing by supporters of Paris Saint Germain.
“There were two years in which I was not happy, I did not enjoy myself, and that affected my family life, I missed a lot of my children’s lives at school. In Barcelona I went to look for them, here I did much less, I shared fewer activities with them. The decision (to go to Miami) also goes through there, to meet again, in quotes, with my family, with my children, and enjoy day to day, “explained the star.
After the end of his adventure with PSG, the 35-year-old world champion could choose between three destinations: return to Barcelona, the team where he was formed and achieved his greatest triumphs, the attraction of Saudi Arabia’s petrodollars, which already they have seduced Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, or the North American league on the other side of the Atlantic.
In the end, it will be in sunny Miami where the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner will write the last pages of his extraordinary career, in a franchise owned by David Beckham and American billionaires Jorge and José Mas.
The Argentine’s choice, the fruit of lengthy negotiations carried out on his behalf by his father and agent, Jorge Messi, is a somewhat surprising turn of events given that the Argentine seemed close to signing for a Saudi club.
The kingdom was willing to make a large outlay to attract him and several media outlets pointed to a salary of 400 million euros per season. Senior Al-Hilal officials even traveled to Paris on Sunday to try to seal the deal, according to sources close to the talks.
In early May, a Saudi source close to the negotiations told AFP that the transfer was a “closed deal.”
Messi’s last wish, however, was to return to his beloved Barça, whom he was forced to leave in 2021 to sign for PSG when the Catalan club could not retain him for financial reasons that still drags on.
These financial problems apparently again scuttled the return agreement, despite the fact that Jorge Messi assured on Monday that this was his son’s preferred option.
However, the Blaugrana board had to wait for the Spanish League to validate its economic feasibility plan to be able to consider hiring ‘La Pulga’, which cooled the spirits of the Messi clan.
Thus, Inter Miami was in first place in the race for the player, despite Messi’s desire to remain in a top-level league with a view to the 2024 Copa América to be played in the United States.