David Beckham has disclosed Lionel Messi’s Barcelona comeback plan, with Inter Miami resigned to losing the Argentine superstar at some moment.
“Leo and I will sit down to discuss the future. I fully expect that when our new stadium opens in 2026, Leo Messi will be our number 10,” Herons co-owner Jorge Mas said of those talks. The MLS team, which let Messi leave in 2023 to pursue the American dream, has their lucky captain signed to a contract through 2025, with the option for a 12-month extension that would include the next World Cup finals.
Messi has, however, never hidden the fact that he intends to retrace steps to Barcelona once his record-setting career comes to a close. Beckham concedes that Florida will be bidding farewell to the Argentine GOAT, with the Manchester United legend saying at the Economic Forum in Davos: “I would like Messi to live in Miami when he retires, but Leo told me that he only thinks about living near the Camp Nou. There is no player who loves Barcelona as much as he does. You can see the Barca crest on his leg and even on his water bottle.”
Messi still considers Catalunya to be home and wants to return to that part of the world with wife Antonela and their three sons once retirement is reached. He does, however, still have plenty to achieve in the United States prior to that.
Beckham added on working with Messi and Inter Miami’s ambitious plans: “I have always believed in potential. You know, the United States is a powerful country, one of the biggest countries with the best opportunities and you believe in that. When I moved to the United States, I knew it was a land of opportunity. I knew I wanted to live in the United States at some point and create a business like the one we have done. Now I sit in my chair, in Miami, in that stadium and Leo walks onto the field and I think ‘I’m very proud of that’.”
