Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets have sensationally agreed to join Inter Miami.
35-year-old Messi will become the biggest acquisition in Major League Soccer history and will move to Miami instead of returning to Barcelona or joining cash-rich Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, with Busquets following him stateside after bringing the curtain down on an illustrious career at Camp Nou.
Messi’s camp had been locked in talks with Barcelona for months and a return looked to be edging closer when La Liga approved the Catalan giants’ financial viability plan – which enabled them to start registering contracts for the likes of Gavi and Ronald Araujo.
Taking Messi back ‘home’ was the next step in Joan Laporta’s grand plan, but talks on Monday between the Barcelona president and Messi’s father, Jorge, did not go well.
That was the beginning of the end for Barca’s hopes of re-signing Messi, even though the Argentine had longed of returning to the club he served faithfully for the first 21 years of his career.
MLS and their commercial partners, who include adidas and streaming giants Apple, had been working hard in the background on a plan to lure Messi to the United States, and their renewed confidence has now led to an agreement between all parties.
Messi will be joined by his close friend Busquets, who recently left Barcelona after making over 700 appearances across a trophy-laden 15-year spell in the first team.
Busquets had also been the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia – Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante two of a number of high-profile players to agree switches to the Middle East in recent days – but he has turned down the riches on offer in order to link up with Messi.
Inter Miami are expected to confirm the pair’s signings within the next 48 hours, with the club preparing to undergo a major reboot ahead of the 2024 MLS season.
Head coach Phil Neville was sacked by the David Beckham co-owned club last week – Tata Martino will be announced as his successor.
