Lionel Messi has agreed a contract extension with Inter Miami which is able to see the Argentine celebrity stay in Main League Soccer till the top of the 2028 season, the membership confirmed on Thursday.
Inter Miami’s X feed posted a video of Messi signing a contract sitting at a desk in the midst of the membership’s new Freedom Park stadium, which is beneath development, with the easy caption: “He is Residence.”
“It makes me actually glad to remain right here and to proceed with this challenge that, moreover being a dream, has develop into a lovely actuality – taking part in on this stadium, at Miami Freedom Park,” Messi, 38, mentioned in a membership assertion.
“Since I arrived in Miami, I have been very glad, so I am actually glad to maintain going right here,” Messi added.
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham mentioned Messi’s choice to increase mirrored his “dedication to the town, to the membership, to the sport.”
“He is nonetheless as dedicated as he is ever been and he nonetheless needs to win,” Beckham mentioned. “As house owners to have a participant that loves the sport as a lot as he does, and who has performed as a lot for the sport on this nation and to encourage the following era of younger expertise as he has, we really feel very fortunate.”
The World Cup-winner’s present contract expires on the finish of the 2025 MLS season.
A brand new deal had been considered as a formality after membership sources mentioned final month that the franchise had reached an settlement on an extension.
Messi’s contract ensures he’ll stay in aggressive motion till and lengthy after the 2026 World Cup hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Messi moved to Inter Miami in 2023 after an sad spell at Paris Saint-Germain and has since had a transformative impact on the league, driving report attendances and ticketing revenues.
“When Lionel Messi made MLS his league of selection, it marked a turning level – not only for Inter Miami, however for our whole sport in North America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber mentioned Thursday as he welcomed information of Messi’s contract extension.
Messi spent the majority of his stellar profession at Barcelona, the place he performed from 2004 to 2021 after coming by way of the youth system on the Spanish giants.
At Barça, he gained the La Liga title 10 instances and lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy on 4 events.
In 2022, he led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar and has expressed a want to attempt to retain the trophy subsequent 12 months.
He has scored 114 worldwide objectives and in addition gained the Copa América twice with Argentina, in 2021 and 2024.
MLS objectives historical past
Messi might play at a sixth World Cup subsequent 12 months, which might set a brand new all-time report, though he might be matched by long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner can also be simply three objectives wanting Miroslav Klose’s report of 16 profession World Cup objectives.
Argentina comfortably booked a spot at subsequent 12 months’s finals, ending 9 factors clear on the prime of the South American qualifying desk.
Messi completed as the highest scorer with eight objectives, together with a brace in what could have been his final aggressive match on house soil towards Venezuela two weeks in the past.
He was named the MLS Most Beneficial Participant within the 2024 season although Inter Miami have been eradicated within the playoffs.
In 2025, he turned the quickest participant to succeed in 40 objectives in MLS historical past.
This season, Messi has led Miami again into the play-offs after ending in third place within the Jap Convention.
He wrapped up Inter Miami’s common season marketing campaign with an outstanding hat-trick final Saturday in a 5-2 demolition of Nashville SC, leaving him with 29 objectives from 28 matches to win MLS’s Golden Boot award.
–TIMES/AFP
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