Leo Messi would never have wanted to leave Barcelona, writes Janne Palomäki.
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Leo Messi has made his decision.
– Of course I would have liked to return to Barcelona. But even if I would have loved it, it was not possible, Messi said For Mundo Deportivo.
– I have decided to go to Miami. The contract is not 100% ready yet, but we have decided to continue on that path.
The news tells much more about FC Barcelona than about David Beckham’s co-owned Inter Miami. It’s about that Messi no longer trusted Barça president Joan Laporta.
The reason is clear. Two years ago, Laporta fed the club’s supporters a willow rope when he claimed that the club would be ready to sign an extension with Messi.
Laporta should have said that the club doesn’t have the money for that.
– I have been accused of so many things that were not true during my Barcelona career. I’m already a bit tired of them, Messi said.
Two years ago, Messi also believed that he could continue in the club he loves. When the truth dawned, tears rolled down Kirpu’s cheeks At the Camp Nou press conference.
– I didn’t want to experience the same or find myself in a similar situation. I didn’t want to just wait for what was going to happen and leave my whole future in the hands of others, he comments now.
– I wanted to make my own decision thinking about me and my family.
In terms of sports, Inter Miami falls somewhere between Barcelona and Al-Hilal. It’s the jumbo of the Eastern Conference and probably won’t make the fall playoffs.
Of course, Beckham just fired his former teammate Phil Neville, who had managed Inter for a good two years.
Messi’s decision made the search for a new head coach an even more fascinating challenge.
MLS is certainly a fun environment to play the last years of a professional career. Messi has only good preparation in mind for next summer’s Copa América.
Argentina enters the continent’s championship tournament as the defending champion. And its host is fittingly Messi’s future country of residence, the United States.
The story continues after the picture
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Two years ago, Kirppu had to settle for the second option. PSG offered him a still athletically plausible escape route.
Now that was no longer available.
However, Inter Miami will not tarnish his image in the same way that the move to the Persian Gulf did.
There is also only the second option.