Lionel Messi signs with Inter Miami after rejecting Saudi Arabian riches, Barcelona return

Lionel Messi knocked back the romance of a Barcelona return and prospect of eye-watering riches in Saudi Arabia to join the MLS. Here’s how it happened.

Lionel Messi celebrates scoring a goal for Paris Saint-Germain. Picture: AFP

Lionel Messi has confirmed that he will join Inter Miami this summer after his dream of a return to Barcelona became unworkable.

Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain rejected a hugely lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia to move to Major League Soccer but admitted that he “really wanted” to return to the Nou Camp until uncertainty over Barcelona’s financial position put him off.

Messi spent 21 years with the Catalan giants before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 because of Barcelona’s financial difficulties, and he said that it was because of those problems that he decided against a move back to the Nou Camp.

“I made the decision that I am going to go to Miami,” Messi said in a joint interview with the Spanish publications Mundo Deportivo and Sport.

Lionel Messi has decided against a move back to Barcelona. Picture: AFP

“I still haven’t closed it 100 per cent. I’m missing some things, but we decided to continue on the path.

“If the Barcelona thing didn’t work out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more of my family. I really wanted, I was very excited to be able to return [to Barcelona], but after having experienced what I experienced and the exit I had, I did not want to be in the same situation again — waiting to see what was going to happen.

“I heard that they had to sell players or lower players’ salaries and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that, nor take charge of obtaining something that had to do with all that.”

The football world was eagerly awaiting Lionel Messi’s decision after his departure from PSG. Picture: AFP

As The Times reported in November, the owners of Inter Miami were confident of securing Messi. Discussions began between Jorge Mas, the club’s co-owner, and Messi’s father, Jorge, when Argentina used Inter Miami’s training ground in September before a friendly against Honduras in Florida.

Those talks continued during the World Cup in Qatar, with David Beckham, who is also a co-owner, and other senior figures, and left the MLS franchise believing that arguably the greatest player of all time would join them.

That view was based partly on Messi’s passion for Miami, where he has a home, and a desire to experience something different after a frustrating time with PSG. He was also attracted to playing in the US before the 2026 World Cup there.

Argentina's captain and forward #10 Lionel Messi holds the FIFA World Cup Trophy following the trophy ceremony after Argentina won the Qatar 2022 World Cup final football match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha on December 18, 2022. Lionel Messi says he will sign for Inter Miami in Spanish media interview, AFP reported on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

It is thought that the Saudis were prepared to offer Messi, 35, a record-breaking deal of more than $655 million a year; more even than Al Nassr have paid to lure Cristiano Ronaldo to the Middle East.

But Messi has made a decision based as much on the needs of his family — who left Paris this year to return to their home in Barcelona — as any career ambitions. He will still become the highest-paid player in MLS history, in a deal that is understood to be supported by Apple and Adidas.

This article was first published in The Times

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