Messi renews contract with Inter Miami until 2028

Inter Miami announced Thursday the contract renewal of Lionel Messi until the end of the 2028 North American league season (MLS), guaranteeing the Argentine star will be around for next year's World Cup.

"The dream is getting stronger. Leo Messi has extended his contract through 2028, making Miami Freedom Park his home, where he will lead our Club when it opens its doors in 2026," the Floridian team wrote in a statement to its fans, referring to its new 25,000-capacity stadium.

Minutes earlier, the club posted a teasing video on X showing the player signing his new contract at a desk set up amid the massive stadium construction project.

"I'm happy to be able to continue here."

"I'm happy to be able to stay here and continue with this project that, besides being a dream, has become a beautiful reality: playing in this stadium, in Miami Freedom Park. Since I arrived in Miami I have been very happy, so I am really happy to be able to continue here," Messi, 38, said in a team release.

The agreement between the two parties for the renewal had already been confirmed to AFP by a source close to the agreement on September 17.

The former Barcelona star had been negotiating for months the extension of a contract that this season brought him a salary of $20.4 million.

One of the standard-bearers of Messi's adventure in Miami has been David Beckham, the former English footballer and co-owner of the Herons, who on Thursday celebrated that El Diez "remains as committed as ever and still has the desire to win."

If he fulfills his new commitment in full, the most decorated footballer in history will remain active until he is at least 41 years old.

Messi, who had advanced that Inter would be his last club, has managed his times with caution and for now has not publicly confirmed his participation in the 2026 World Cup in North America, in which Argentina will defend the crown.

Big revenues

Although the numbers of his renewal are not yet known, Messi's previous contract was by far the largest in the MLS, not counting other revenues from deals such as Apple TV+, the platform that broadcasts the North American league worldwide.

Messi is also assured after his retirement of an ownership stake in Inter, a franchise with only five years of history that underwent a complete transformation, from the offices to the locker room, with the Argentine's arrival in mid-2023.

In Miami, Messi has found an ideal environment to enjoy the final stretch of his legendary career with his family, once his great aspiration of winning a World Cup with Argentina in Qatar 2022 has been fulfilled.

There he has also surrounded himself with managers, coaches and players of his total confidence. In July, Argentine Rodrigo De Paul joined a dressing room that already included other former teammates and friends of Diez such as Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez.

The Spaniard, however, recently announced his retirement from soccer at the end of the current season, and the Uruguayan still has not renewed his contract, which expires at the end of the championship.

Argentina: World Cup target?

The rosarino, eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, has not lost an iota of his competitiveness since he decided to leave Paris Saint-Germain, where he never felt comfortable, and move away from the demands of top-level soccer.

This season, El Diez won the MLS Golden Boot for the first time with an astonishing 29 goals in 28 regular season games, and is the favorite to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Winning his first league title in the playoffs is one of the many exciting challenges ahead for Messi in the coming years.