Lionel Messi on loan? That may have been the subplot for many megastars in Major League Soccer, but the World Cup winner will reportedly not take the path trod by Thierry Henry, David Beckham, and others despite Inter Miami’s playoff dreams dying at the weekend.
Guillem Balague says that Messi, 36 and presently on international duty with Argentina, will finish the MLS season on Oct. 22 and then continue to train ahead of November’s huge World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil.
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Messi will then one-month vacation after the season, Balague reports, before gearing up for preseason with Inter Miami ahead of the 2024 MLS campaign (and, probably, Copa America on U.S. soil).
There had been plenty of discussion about Messi perhaps returning to Barcelona or even taking a boatload of money for the Saudi Pro League for a short stint in the Middle East, but Balague says no way.
One tidbit that Balague teases is very interesting: How will Inter Miami showcase Messi — and make some Messi bucks back for their coffers — in preseason? Will David Beckham’s club take Inter Miami to South America? To Asia? To the Saudi Pro League for a high-profile reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo? Could Inter Miami tangle with the USMNT during the off-window January “Camp Cupcake?”
It’s a whole new world, and probably the most interesting preseason in Major League Soccer history.
