Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami pulled off a major coup when Lionel Messi confirmed earlier this summer that he plans to move to Florida for the next challenge in his glittering career. For that privilege, there must be some serious financial muscle behind the deal, and there certainly is. David Beckham and Inter Miami managed to convince the world champion to join their ranks and the lure of Florida, where the player already owns a house, is an attractive proposition for the Argentine.
In addition to the inclusion of the Argentine star, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba arrived to strengthen the squad and Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino was included as coach; Together, they managed to win the first title in Inter Miami’s history, the Leagues Cup.
Now, they have the upcoming final of the US Open Cup, which they will face the Houston Dynamo and in the MLS they have managed to get out from the bottom of the East with the hope of reaching the playoffs.
Inter Miami’s salary proposal is below the package offered by the Saudi Pro League, which also tried to lure the forward with a salary of $440 million. The Saudi lure has worked in many other cases, such as Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kanté, Sadio Mané or Milinkovic-Savic. The $54 million on Inter Miami’s table doesn’t compare to much, but the Argentine will also receive revenues from television rights as part of the MLS/Apple joint venture. The forward, who is already sponsored by Adidas, will also get a percentage of all replica jerseys sold in the league by having an exclusive deal with the German sports brand.
So, in addition to receiving 54 million dollars per year, it is a good business for the Argentine star, who brought ‘Messimanía’ to Miami, where people went crazy to get tickets for the games and sold out their shirts.
Messi leads Miami’s salary
Before the arrival of Barcelona legends, the Venezuelan striker Josef Martínez was the highest paid player of the club. The former Atlanta United forward earned four million dollars per season with the Herons. At more than 13 times that amount, Messi’s $54 million is less and $46 million more than the league’s highest-paid star, former Liverpool star Xherdan Shaqiri of the Chicago Fire. Shaqiri pocketed $8.2 million per campaign.
How much do Busquets and Jordi Alba earn at Inter Miami?
Of course, a supporting cast was always part of Miami’s plan and Barcelona’s trio changed as Sergio Busquets and then Jordi Alba joined. For their part, they will receive 10 million and 1.6 million, respectively.
In addition, beyond the salary they will receive, it seems that Messi has found happiness again on the playing field at the club level, as it is clear that the relationship with PSG has deteriorated; He is already the champion of the Leagues Cup where Inter Miami is the top scorer of the competition, he will fight in the final of the US Open Cup and they are trying to reach the playoffs of MLS.
