Lionel Messi swapped Paris for Miami in July and has dramatically changed the fortunes of the Florida based club as they look to win more silverware in Wednesday’s US Open Cup final.
Calum RocheEnglish_ASUpdate: Sep 25th, 2023 15:08 EDT
JAMES GILBERTAFP
Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami delivered a major coup when Lionel Messi confirmed earlier in the summer that he planned to move to Florida for the next challenge in his glittering career. For that privilege, there would need to be some serious financial muscle behind the deal, and there certainly was.
Por La 2egunda⏳- @opencup Final9.27.23 | 8:30PM ET | @drvpnkstadium | Secure your tickets: https://t.co/eq8pMxNaSg pic.twitter.com/7OIJSvq1GH
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) September 25, 2023
David Beckham and Inter Miami managed to convince the world champion to join their ranks and the appeal of Florida where the player already had a house was an attractive proposition for the Argentine.
However, Inter Miami’s salary proposal was well short of the package being offered by the Saudi Pro League who also attempted to lure the striker with a reported $440 million salary. The Saudi lure has worked on many others.
The $54 million on the table from Inter Miami paled in comparison but the Argentine was also set to receive earnings from television rights as part of the MLS/Apple joint venture. The striker who was already sponsored by Adidas would also get a percentage of all replica shirts sold with the league having an exclusive deal with the German sports brand.
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A fan wears a Lionel Messi bucket hat ALEX MENENDEZAFP
Messi tops Miami salaries
Before the arrival of the Barcelona legend, Venezuelan striker Josef Martínez was the club’s highest-paid player with the former Atlanta United striker earning $4 million per season with the Herons. At over 13 times the amount, Messi’s $54 million dwarfed that and is $46 million more than the highest paid in the league, which is the Swiss star, formerly of Liverpool, Xherdan Shaqiri with the Chicago Fire man. There he pockets $8.2 million per campaign.
