Argentina legend Lionel Messi will join American side Inter Miami after his exit from French champions Paris St-Germain, BBC reports.
The former Barcelona player is set to reject a more lucrative offer from Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal.
The Miami deal includes collaboration with brands like Adidas and Apple.
Forward Messi, 35, has won the award for the world’s best player seven times and is expected to win it later this year after World Cup success.
This is the first time Barcelona icon Messi has played outside Europe. He wanted to remain in Europe for another season but, after no satisfactory offers were received, he had the straight choice between Inter Miami or Al-Hilal.
He was heavily tipped to be favoring a move to Saudi Arabia, where he would have joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the league, in a deal that could not be matched financially.
Lifestyle and big brands pushed Lionel Messi towards Inter Miami
But Messi was ultimately tempted to Major League Soccer side Inter Miami for a variety of reasons including lifestyle, and a deal with big brands that extends beyond football. He already owns a house in Miami, which he currently rents out.
He was keen on a return to Barcelona this summer but the Financial Fair Play limitations that will be in place for next season in La Liga made any ambitious plan to bring him back an impossibility.
Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and the UEFA Champions League four times. With his country, he won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Paris St-Germain won Ligue 1 in both his seasons at the club but went out in the Champions League last 16, which means his time in France was not seen as a huge success.
He netted 32 goals in 75 games for the club – and ended this season with 16 goals and 16 assists in Ligue 1.
Messi’s two-year contract comes to an end this summer and both parties agreed to go their separate ways, with the forward suspended for two weeks in May for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.
His legacy comes from his time at Barcelona and winning the World Cup with Argentina in December. He left Barca in 2021, after 21 years with the club, because of the club’s financial problems.
Messi is Barcelona’s record scorer with 672 goals and won 10 La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Spanish Cups.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
