Lionel Messi is set to sign for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami after leaving Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi is on the verge of signing for Inter, who are co-owned by former England and Manchester United ace David Beckham, despite interest from former side Barcelona and Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal and, reportedly, Chelsea. Having left PSG after the expiry of his contract following the end of the season, Messi will now head to Inter in a deal that has reportedly been given the backing of Adidas and Apple, with the latter the MLS' worldwide broadcaster after striking a deal with the league.
The Barcelona-based website Sport reports that Messi has been handed a four-year deal, with the Argentina World Cup hero keen on a move to Miami because he already has a home there and his family can settle quickly. Relevo has claimed that Messi will earn around $54million per season, a total of a whopping $220million if he sees out his contract at Inter.
He will become the MLS' highest-paid player if the move is complete. "I made the decision that I am going to go to Miami," Messi said in an interview with the Spanish newspapers Sport and Mundo Deportivo.
"I still haven't closed it 100%. 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 in 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."
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