MLS: Inter Miami coach Phil Neville facing difficult season – plans with Messi

MLS start this weekend

On Sunday, Inter Miami FC will start the new MLS season against the Chicago Fire (February 27, from 12:00 a.m. in the TM live ticker). Before the start, coach Phil Neville spoke, among other things, about his personal future and the relationship with club president David Beckham and gave an update on the apparently ongoing plan to sign Lionel Messi.

“This club will always want to bring a superstar to Miami, and a lot of top players want to come here because of our location,” Neville said of the Argentine, whose contract in Paris runs until June 2023, in an interview with the English “Times“. “If Messi comes, we’ll have to see what happens. (…) Of course I want longevity here.”

Inter Miami had already publicly flirted with a Messi transfer in the past, club owner Jorge Mas recently announced last summer: “I’m optimistic that Messi will play in the shirt of Inter Miami because I think that’s the legacy of the greatest player of our generation and match our ambitions to build a world-class team.”

community
Discuss now in the MLS forumRight this way
Until then, the MLS club has to bake smaller rolls in terms of transfers. In January, Inter strengthened their squad with the roughly 2.5 million euro Colombian Emerson Rodríguez and US international DeAndre Yedlin from Galatasaray Istanbul. Neville’s team currently has the fourth-lowest squad value in the league at €23.5m.

Last season Miami was 11th in the table. missed the playoffs of the Eastern Conference League, the coach is now entering the second season of his two-year contract. After a “strong preparation” in which, among other things, they won the first international friendly game against the Peruvian first division team Universitario de Deportes 4-0, the focus is now clearly on improving sportingly compared to the previous season. It won’t be easy, however, confirms transfer market expert and Area Manager USA Manuel Veth.

“Inter Miami CF is looking at a difficult year. The Beckham club were fined by MLS last year after breaking salary cap rules. The new sports director Chris Henderson then turned the club inside out and gave up many players. With the penalty and Rodolfo Pizarro’s loan to Monterrey, the club only have room for two Designated Players this year instead of the usual three. The changes in the squad are also reflected in the transfer market: in the first season the club had one of the most valuable squads in the league, currently only DC United, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake have a lower market value than the South Florida club veth.

Neville on club president Beckham: ‘Every defeat hurts him’

Neville himself could imagine an engagement in Miami beyond 2022, but a possible extension is also in the hands of his friend and club president David Beckham. In the jersey of the “Three Lions” and that of Manchester United, Neville had played a total of 17,288 minutes in 365 games during his active career together with Beckham, both belong to the legendary “Class of 92” of the “Red Devils”.

“Last season there were times when I knew he wasn’t happy. (…) Every defeat hurts him. To be honest I think we both know if it’s time for me to move on. But until that day comes, he will support me,” said the former England women’s national team boss. He is not afraid of risking his personal relationship with Beckham if he does not meet sporting expectations: “From the beginning David and I said to each other that whatever happens, this will not affect our friendship.”

To home page