Lionel Messi has turned down a huge offer from Saudi Arabia to move to MLS side Inter Miami - and he could cut his job to make them a team capable of competing for titles.
Messi, 35, confirmed Wednesday that he has decided to move to the United States, turning down a massive three-year contract offer from Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal worth 1.3 billion euros (1 ,1 billion pounds) - about 500 million euros (430 million). a year.
He will instead join the MLS franchise Inter Miami, which is partly owned by David Beckham.
I have decided to go to Miami, Messi told Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo.
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"[I have decided] to leave Europe."
He added:
It is true that I received an offer from another European team but I did not even think about it because in Europe my idea was just to go to Barcelona. After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it was time to go to MLS to experience football in a different way and enjoy my day more.
"Obviously there's the same responsibility and the same desire to win, and to do things well, but with more composure."
Inter Miami was only founded in 2018 and started playing in the MLS in 2020.
They finished 19th, 20th and 12th overall in their first three seasons in the competition and struggled again this year.
Miami are currently bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, placing them in 27th overall, a run of form that saw the head coach - former Manchester United defender Phil Neville - sacked earlier this month. this after a 10-game losing streak in 13 games.
Messi's best friend and former national teammate, Aguero, says he has been in touch with the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner since he announced his transfer. Speaking to ESPN Argentina, Aguero revealed he sent a screenshot of the MLS rankings to Messi and received a response.
"I spoke with Messi yesterday," Aguero told ESPN (via Daily Mail).
"I texted him with a screenshot of the Eastern Conference rankings and said:
'Your team is in the back! You need to move to 8/9!'
"Messi got mad. He said: 'We have to play play-offs!'"
The top nine teams at the Eastern Conference are in the MLS season-ending playoffs, with 15th-placed Inter Miami now six points behind ninth-placed Charlotte FC.
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