Where is messi playing now ? As Inter Miami gears up for their next match, football fans are already wondering where is Messi and if they can expect to seem him out on the field. Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, has enjoyed a remarkable career spanning over two decades. His latest stints on the field have seen him playing for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami along with the Argentina national team, but many years ago, he made his first-team debut for Barcelona in 2004. Messi went on to achieve unparalleled success with the club, winning numerous La Liga titles, UEFA Champions League trophies, and individual awards, including multiple Ballon d’Or titles.
In August 2021, Messi transferred to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) after spending his entire professional career with Barcelona due to financial constraints. Two years later, news broke that the legendary footballer rejected an offer from Saudi Arabia to sign with Inter Miami. “I made the decision that I am going to go to Miami,” he told the Spanish publication Sport in July 2023.
Regardless of the club, Messi’s talent in the world of football remains indelible—and fans are eager to see him play. For everything we know about where is Messi and if he’s playing for Inter Miami tonight, keep on reading below.
Is Messi playing tonight?
So, is Messi playing tonight? According to ESPN, Lionel Messi will miss Inter Miami’s match against Sporting Kansas City on September 9, 2023.
Coach Gerardo Martino told reporters back in August 2023 that the footballer would miss at least three games this season due to his existing commitments with the Argentina national team. The footballer is expected to be in Latin America for World Cup qualifiers during Inter Miami’s game as Argentina is set to face Ecuador and Bolivia on September 7, 2023, and September 12, 2023, respectively.
When asked if he expected Messi to return to Miami instead of joining Argentina’s match against Bolivia, Martino suggested that it was unlikely. “I wouldn’t venture to say as of now,” Martino told reporters on September 8, 2023, per ESPN. “It is early. Today could be an important day [regarding that decision], but I don’t imagine so if he has a chance to play against Bolivia,” he added at the time
Messi has always been expected to miss some games with Inter Miami. Back in August 2023, Martino confirmed that the footballer would miss “at least three games” with the Miami team this season. “The importance is that we value winning and winning this way because it’s something we have to get accustomed to,” Martino told reporters at the time. “He’s gonna get called up by his national team and others too. We know that the team has to continue to win without them at times.”
Since his debut with the club in July 2023, Messi has contributed 11 goals and six assists over the course of the team’s 11-game unbeaten streak. When asked who might step in to replace Messi during his absence, Martino remained coy on the specifics: “Well, that’s difficult to answer when it’s asked like that, but we have an idea of who will play,” the manager told reporters, per the Miami Herald. “We will adapt our system to the players we have available and the way Kansas plays.”
Messi’s teammate, forward Leo Campana, told the Herald that he would be missed until his eventual return. “We will miss Leo, of course, but we have high quality players and Leo has raised the level of everyone on the team, lifted our confidence, we are a totally different team than we were before,” he shared.
What is Messi’s Inter Miami schedule?
While Martino didn’t specify which games Messi would miss with Inter Miami this season, it’s possible that the footballer will skip any upcoming MLS matchups while he’s with the Argentina national team for World Cup qualifiers on September 7, 2023 and September 12, 2023.
The next time Inter Miami takes the field will be Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET when the team hosts Kansas City. After that, Inter Miami’s schedule includes:
- September 16, 2023: Inter Miami at Atlanta United
- September 20, 2023: Home vs. Toronto FC
- September 24, 2023: Orlando City vs. Inter Miami
- September 27, 2023: Home vs. Houston Dynamo FC
Lionel Messi to join MLS side Inter Miami after leaving PSG
The Argentinian football great Lionel Messi has said he will sign for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami after leaving French champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), snubbing a lucrative offer in Saudi Arabia.
“I made the decision that I’m going to go to Miami. I still haven’t closed it 100 percent,” Messi told Mundo Deportivo and Sport newspapers. “I’m still missing a few things, but we decided to go ahead.”
Inter Miami also teased the player’s arrival in a social media video featuring various rumours about the superstar’s next destination. The clip ends with Messi’s name stylised in the club’s colours.
The MLS welcomed Messi’s looming move to the league.
“We are pleased that Lionel Messi has stated that he intends to join Inter Miami and [MLS] this summer. Although work remains to finalise a formal agreement, we look forward to welcoming one of the greatest players of all time to our league,” the MLS said in a statement.
A World Cup winner and serial champion considered by many as the greatest ever to play the game, Messi, 35, is one of the best-known athletes in the world.
He will arrive in a league that does not enjoy the same level of popularity or intensity as European football, but one that has been home to many stars in recent years, including David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lorenzo Insigne.
“We literally beat his longtime home team and an incredible financial package from one of the wealthiest countries because Miami is the most exciting and dynamic city in the world,” he wrote on Twitter.
The move to the United States will shock many in the game because Messi was widely predicted to join the increasingly ambitious Saudi Premier League to play alongside stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Inter Miami, co-owned by Beckham and now has an Argentinian interim coach in Javier Morales, has been struggling this season. They currently sit bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Signing the seven-time World Player of the Year will be a major boost for the club and US football more broadly. Should the deal with Miami go through, it would be the first time Messi has played league football outside Europe.
Barcelona said in a statement on Wednesday that it presented Messi with a proposal to rejoin the team. But it added that club president Joan Laporta “understood and respected Messi’s decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands, further away from the spotlight and the pressure he has been subject to in recent years”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Spanish football writer and Messi biographer Guillem Balague wrote in a BBC report that the 2022 World Cup winner would reject an offer from Saudi side Al Hilal and is unable to rejoin his former club Barcelona due to financial fair-play limitations.
“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,” Balague wrote, adding that Messi already owns a house in Miami, which he currently rents out.
Balague says the Miami deal includes collaboration from brands including Adidas and Apple.
In two seasons at PSG, Messi won two French leagues and the French Champions trophy. He scored 32 goals and made 35 assists in all competitions.
Messi scored in a 1-1 draw at Strasbourg a week ago to help PSG clinch a record-extending 11th French league title. By grabbing a 496th career league goal, the Argentinian also broke Ronaldo’s scoring record for Europe’s top five leagues.
His two-year contract with PSG ended in early June and was not renewed as relations soured between Messi and the club.
PSG fans have jeered Messi in the past couple of months as his form dipped after he helped Argentina win the World Cup.
Relations further deteriorated in May when PSG suspended Messi after he made an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia. Messi has a commercial contract with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism.
He had made an emotional farewell to Barcelona in 2021 after the club’s dire finances meant they could no longer afford to keep him.
Messi won 10 La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Spanish Cups during his 21 years at Barcelona and is the Catalan club’s record scorer with 672 goals.
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