By Ankur Biplav
As Argentine great Lionel Messi leaves Europe for Major Soccer League (MLS) side Inter Miami, with unravelled achievements, it will be the first time that football fans will see him play outside Europe, ever since he signed for FC Barcelona on a napkin way back in 2000.
Arguably the greatest achievement of his career — winning the World Cup with Argentina in December — was one such moment when some of his fans say that ‘Messi has done it all’. In fact back in 2016, during a news conference, Messi said, “[I] Would prefer to win a World Cup rather than five Ballons d’Or if I had to choose.”
Born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, Messi moved to Barcelona to join the renowned youth academy, La Masia, and at the mere age of 13, he became part of the Barcelona ecosystem.
While football fans did not wish Messi to move to MLS at this point of his career as it doesn’t exactly add another feather to his hat, but from a competition point of view Messi’s performance would be something which the football enthusiasts would critically look at.
Kyle Zorn, brand manager at online ticketing platform TickPick, has told Reuters that the first game of Messi in the Miami jersey will likely be one of the most expensive games in the history of MLS. The first game which the Argentine could play in Miami’s jersey could be on July 21, when Inter Miami would play against Cruz Azul at their home in Fort Lauderdale.
According to TickPick, the lowest price for that game was a mere $29, but after reports of Messi joining the side, which he later confirmed, the ticket price skyrocketed to a whopping $329, which is a 1,034% jump.
Meanwhile, contract details for Messi are still under wraps, with football experts speculating that the contract might have something similar to what England legend David Beckham was offered in 2007. Beckham was given the option to own an expansion team for a mere $25 million when he joined the MLS side LA Galaxy, which allowed him to start a club in Miami in 2014.
High-value contracts
Earlier this year when five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo moved out of Europe to Saudi Arabia after he signed a contract with Al Nassr, his estimated salary is nearly $214 million a season, which makes him the highest-paid footballer in the world. While the contract involves two and a half years of playing for the club, it also involves representing Saudi Arabia as an ambassador for five years. The weekly earning of Ronaldo is estimated to be around $3.9 million.
Back in 2017, when Neymar joined the French side Paris-Saint German (PSG), he became the most expensive player of all time. The Brazilian’s current contract keeps him in the club till 2025 where his salary is valued at $36.5 million per year while he earns around $700,000 as his weekly wages. Meanwhile, Neymar’s teammate at PSG, Kylian Mbappe earns $63 million per year which translates into his weekly wages being around $1.15 million.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who moved to MLS side LA Galaxy in 2018, became the highest-paid footballer in the league after the MLS Players Association had revised the salary numbers for the 2019 season, with Ibrahimovic getting a guaranteed compensation of $7.2 million.
Messi-Ronaldo rivalry ends
With Messi and Ronaldo both moving out of Europe, one of the greatest sports rivalry comes to an end. Out of the 13 Ballons d’Ors awarded between 2008 and 2021, it was Messi and Ronaldo who dominated the winner’s list with the former winning seven and the latter winning five. The two football legends have faced each other in a total of 36 matches throughout their career. In those matches, Messi scored a total of 22 goals while Ronaldo scored 21. But, when it comes to assists, the Argentine great has 12 assists to his profile while the Portuguese star has only one to his profile.
While the debate over who is the GOAT (Great of All Time) between Messi and Ronaldo has been under discussion by football fans and experts for over a decade, both players have achieved extraordinary success on the field, broken numerous records, and captivated the football fans with their exceptional skills and unique styles of play.
A Twitter user tweeted after Messi’s move was announced, where she wrote that with ‘Messi to Inter Miami and Ronaldo to Al Nassr, seems like Europe is out of the Goat.’