Messi Shocks Football World by Choosing Inter Miami over Barcelona and Al-Hilal: The Inside Story

2023-06-07 20:58:42

[골닷컴] Correspondent Kang Dong-hoon = ‘God of football’ Lionel Messi (35) made a choice that broke everyone’s expectations. David Beckham (48) joined Inter Miami (USA), the current owner, rather than returning to Barcelona (Spain) and transferring to Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia), which offered a huge salary.

Inter Miami said on its official website on the 8th (Korean time): “We are delighted that Messi has announced that he intends to join us this summer. While work remains to finalize an official agreement, we do not want one of the greatest footballers in history to come. We welcome and look forward to it.”

At the same time, reporter Fabrizio Romano, an expert on the European football transfer market, said, “Messi is moving to Inter Miami. He will play in the American Major League Soccer (MLS) for the first time. Wa Al-Hilal, despite their efforts, no longer has a chance.”

Previously, as Messi’s contract with Paris Saint-Germain (France) ended on the 4th, he put an end to his two-year partnership and went out to find a new club while becoming a ‘free body’. While he wanted to play in Europe until the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America was held, he considered returning to his ‘parent’ Barcelona after two years as a ‘top priority’.

Messi, however, faced a realistic wall in which he could not register for the next season’s roster if the salary problem was not resolved in the process of returning because Barcelona faced financial problems. In the end, he suffered difficulties as he did not receive an official transfer offer. In the midst of this, the prospect of heading to Saudi Arabia, which offered an astronomical annual salary of 400 million euros (about 560 billion won), surfaced.

Naturally, it was expected that Messi would replay the ‘Meho War’ with his ‘rival’ Cristiano Ronaldo (38, Al Nasr), and further attention was focused as he could also face off against Karim Benzema (35, Al-Itihad). . However, he overturned everyone’s expectations by choosing Inter Miami, which was the least likely.

“I really wanted to go back to Barcelona, but I didn’t want to go through what happened two years ago again. I didn’t want to put my future in someone else’s hands. I wanted to make my own decision, thinking about myself and my family,” Messi said. “I would have gone to. It was a lot of money for me. The truth is that my last decision was somewhere else and it wasn’t because of the money.” He added, “I will join Inter My Mae. The decision is 100% confirmed.”