Lionel Messi will remain in major league soccer in the long run. Through a press release on Thursday, Inter Miami confirmed that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winning striker has signed a new contract that would see him remain in South Florida until 2028. It is an enormous win to MLS that has remained in the global limelight with Messi around.
The 38-year-old Messi had already indicated that Inter Miami would be his last club. He has however not shown any sign of retiring any time soon as he has insisted that age will not come into play in his future in the field. It was our idea to introduce the best players to Inter Miami and this city, and we have done so, club co-owner David Beckham said in a statement. He is as dedicated as he has ever been and he has a desire to win.
The 2022 world cup champion was the goal leader in this season with 29 goals, and also gave 19 assists, which allowed Inter Miami to place third in the Eastern Conference. Friday will mark the beginning of the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs where the team will be playing Nashville SC. This season also saw Messi being nominated among five finalists in the MLS MVP award alongside Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC), Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC), Evander (FC Cincinnati), and Sam Surridge (Nashville SC).
The signing of Messi by MLS in 2023 began a frenzy of soccer promotion in North America, with Messi coming right before the 2026 world cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. According to Forbes, the valuation of Inter Miami increased two times since 2022 and now it has reached 1.2 billion dollars, marking it as the second-valued team in MLS. The fact that Lionel Messi chose MLS as his league of choice was a breaking point not only to Inter Miami, but also to our sport in North America, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. We have seen history: the greatest player of all-time being able to draw attention to our league all over the world.
The finalists of various end-year awards were also announced by MLS Thursday. Besides the MVP race, there are also finalists to the Coach of the Year and they are Bradley Carnell (Philadelphia), Jesper Sorensen (Vancouver) and Mikey Varas (San Diego). Candidates of the Newcomer of the Year include Anders Dreyer, Son Heung-Min (LAFC) and Philip Zinckernagel (Chicago Fire). The other important categories are Young Player of the Year, Defender of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award.
The winners will be disclosed during the MLS Cup Playoffs which have been kicked off on Wednesday with Chicago crushing Orlando and Portland beating Salt Lake in the wild-card. MLS Goal of the Year and Save of the Year will be voted on online and announced on October 27. The MLS Best XI would also be revealed later.
As Messi keeps on dominating and the league gains prominence in the future, MLS will have an exciting future, on and off the field.
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