Messi to MLS: a seismic story explained
The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2023
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lionel Messi has opted to join Inter Miami in MLS over a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia or a romantic return to Barcelona.
On this bonus episode of The Athletic Football Podcast, Adam Leventhal is joined by Felipe Cardenas in the US, Pol Ballus in Spain and Matt Slater in, err, Macclesfield to explain the intricacies of the move from every angle.
How close was a return to Barcelona realistically? Why did Miami eventually win him over? Here’s all the big questions answered…
Produced by Mike Stavrou.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic. |
| 0:04.9 | The speculation about Lionel Messi's future is no more. |
| 0:08.9 | He's announced where he'll be spending the next and likely final chapter of his |
| 0:13.3 | illustrious career, having bid farewell to Paris Saint-Germain. |
| 0:17.2 | He's not making an emotional return to Barcelona. |
| 0:19.8 | He's not going to play with Cristiana Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia. Instead, he's heading to Inter Miami, the MLS franchise owned by David Beckham. But why is the world's greatest ever player going to the team that's currently rock bottom of the Eastern Conference? What does the move mean for the growth of soccer in America? |
| 0:39.8 | Why has Messi snubbed the Saudis? And did Barcelona ever stand a chance of getting him back? |
| 0:46.6 | I'm Adam Leventhal and this is the Athletic Football Podcast. We'll see this ball. This is going to make mezi, Messi, Messi, Messi, Mesa, Messe, Messe, Messe, Messe, Messe, Messe, Encar Messe, and Messe, and CERC, Encar Messe, and Messe, and CER MECR MECC, Nile, Moll, Moll, The carvesim Enka Messi, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. |
| 1:16.6 | It's Messy, away from two, three, four, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, |
| 1:21.6 | How good is he? |
| 1:24.6 | We know that he's had an offer on the table for some time now from Into Miami, |
| 1:30.3 | at David Beckham's Club, of course, and indeed from Saudi Arabia. |
| 1:34.3 | The world's best soccer player, Leonel Messi, stunning the world to come to Major League Soccer |
| 1:40.3 | and play for Inner Miami. |
| 1:41.3 | Now he's just coming off a World Cup championship. |
| 1:47.4 | A breath, a heartbeat, |
| 1:50.6 | a missing! |
| 1:55.2 | A goal for ever more. |
| 2:06.2 | Perhaps his moment for infinity. |
| 2:11.0 | So Leonel Messi is off to Miami. |
| 2:14.2 | But is he going there to follow in the footsteps of Pele and David Beckham and help the |
| 2:18.7 | growth of soccer in the US in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup that's hosted there, Canada and |
... |
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