MIAMI - Lionel Messi has accomplished his latest impressive feat: he is heading to Major League Soccer and will join Inter Miami.
After months, even years, of speculation, Messi has finally revealed his decision to join a Miami franchise that has been led by another global soccer icon, David Beckham, since its inception, but has yet to cause a sensation on the pitch.
That will probably change soon. One of Inter Miami's owners, Jorge Mas, tweeted a photo of a dark silhouetted Messi jersey shortly before the Argentine great revealed his decision in interviews with Spanish media Mundo Deportivo and Sport.
It was widely believed that Messi would eventually choose to play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, following his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo to a nation where some clubs are now financed by the state's sovereign wealth fund. Returning to Barcelona, a storied franchise where he spent most of his career, was another possibility.
He is a huge draw all over the world, including Miami. Two days after Argentina won the World Cup, Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry sat on his team's bench for a game he missed due to injury. That night he wore Messi's shirt.
Inter Miami still plays home games in a temporary home in Fort Lauderdale, about 45 minutes north of the Miami site where the team wants to build a permanent complex.
And even in an area where the population has a serious Latino flavor, and where more people might call the sport football than soccer, Inter Miami has struggled to generate the same attention as the area's top professional teams: the basketball Heat, the Miami Baseball Marlins. , Miami Dolphins soccer, and Florida Panthers hockey.
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Messi could change that in an instant. In an instant, he becomes the biggest name in MLS and makes everything Miami does newsworthy.
His decision ends what has been a wild saga. Barcelona made Messi a superstar, but the financial problems that forced the team to let him go two years ago remain a problem.
"I heard that they would have to sell players or lower player salaries and the truth is that I didn't want to go through that," Messi said on Wednesday.
There are no financial problems with Saudi Arabia, and speculation that he would end up there intensified when Messi made an unauthorized trip to the kingdom. PSG suspended him and some fans turned on him, serenading him with boos towards the end of his season with the French club.
Everyone knew that he would not return to PSG. Few probably thought he was headed to Miami. But here it is, the move to Miami of a superstar that might even be more shocking than the arrival of LeBron James to join the Heat 13 years ago.
