About an hour ago, I had no idea who Jorge Mas was.
Apparently, he is the co-owner of MLS's Inter Miami. (I had thought that David Beckham was the voice of the ownership group of the Herons.) Anyhow, what did Jorge Mas say that was so outlandish? He expects soccer mega-star Lionel Messi to extend his contract in Miami beyond 2025.
Uh, I'm not even sure that Messi will fulfill the third year of his 3-year deal next year.
Why? We'll circle back to Messi in a moment.
Christiano Ronaldo is a simple man. When things went south at Manchester United, Ronaldo made it be known that he would play for any team in the world, all they had to do was pay him more money than anyone else. Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr took Ronaldo at his word and backed the money truck up to his door. No one in the world could even approach Al Nassr's offer. Ronaldo has been playing in Saudi Arabia in near silence ever since.
Now similarly, Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal famously offered Messi well over a billion dollars, but the Argentinian was motivated by more than just dollar signs.
Many believed "more" meant marketing Messi as a global brand. That's obviously what Mas and Beckham believed. They were only partially correct.
Messi never wanted to leave Barcelona. Ever. He was forced out into the cold, cruel soccer world by a Barcelona team that was close to financial insolvency. Barcelona begged Messi to stay, for pennies on the dollar compared to the Al-Hilal offer, while admitting that they'd have to let many of his beloved teammates go if he stayed. It was barely an offer at all, it was simply an attempt to pull at Messi's heartstrings and hope that the Barcelona fans wouldn't burn down Camp Nou when he left.
Somewhere in the middle of the two offers, Inter Miami offered Messi a pile of cash, with "business opportunities." What do I mean by that? Supposedly perks like a stake in Apple TV.
But the extra perks Messi wanted had nothing to do with business.
Messi's number one priority since leaving the Barcelona has not been Inter Miami, but the Argentinian National Team. This year, Messi missed 20 of 35 Miami games due to injury (sustained with Argentina) and national team duty. Last year, Messi took his time reporting to Miami and took off a number of games for rest as the Herons were pushing for the final playoff spot (which they missed.)
It has been reported that Miami is about to sign Javier Mascherano as the coach of the Herons. Mascharano is a close, personal friend of Messi's and the coach of the Argentinian U20 National team. Everything that has been done in Miami has been done to make it appear as a suburb of Argentina. Every team decision has been made under the guise of whether it would make Messi happy or not.
And Messi has responded this way:
I love the Argentinian National team!
I love Barcelona!
I can't play forever.
Umm, I don't hear, "I love Miami."
I don't see, "I am ready to retire from international duty to focus on club goals."
How many players in the world, at 37, are still playing top level soccer for both club and country? I can count them on one hand. As soon as Messi arrived at MLS, he was already questioning the league's competition level. That's why many hardcore MLS fans were happy when Atlanta upset Miami in the playoffs.
I'm not saying that Messi is a malcontent, I am saying that he, and his agent Father, made the best business decision available for Lionel Messi, Incorporated, while taking into account that David Beckham would cater to Lionel Messi's whims, even if they were not aligned with the South Florida team.
After 2 years, Messi has not said, in any capacity, "I bleed pink and aqua."
Barcelona's resurgence in Spain has come this year because they've been playing many youngsters that came through their own academy. Cheap youngsters.
Some people have misinterpreted Messi's flirtations with Barcelona and his threats of retirement as negotiating ploys. What more does Messi want? If it was just about the money, we've already established that he would have simply signed in Saudi Arabia.
I don't think one of Messi's last remaining professional goals is the MLS Cup.
I'm not even sure if he knows what the CONCACAF Champions League Cup is, even though Miami has played for one.
I never said Messi doesn't love soccer, I don't believe that at all. I don't believe that he likes the "Americanized" version of the sport, with its wonky calendar and their funky playoffs, for example.
His version of soccer is like what's played in La Liga, the Premier League, or even the Primera Division in Argentina.
I think there's only a 50/50 chance that Messi even plays in America next year.
You don't know Messi, I don't know Messi, but his decision about his soccer career could be as benign as he doesn't want his kids growing up in America. The way he waxes poetically about Barcelona, you'd think he was on their tourism board.
As charming as David Beckham is, he can't sell Messi that America is not America. And Messi can't come out and say he doesn't like America, specifically Miami, that would be alienating millions of potential customers of the Messi Brand.
Jorge Mas thinks Miami is awesome. I have not heard one peep that suggests that Messi feels the same way about his club city, on any level.
You think an MLS Cup in 2025 will placate Messi? It won't.
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