Lionel Messi is staying but Inter Miami need to build a new team around him
Lionel Messi’s new contract will keep him at Inter Miami until 2028, but it’s not clear how the South Floridian outfit will shape up around the Argentine.
Sat in the middle of a construction site, the video that accompanied the announcement of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami contract extension made clear how the Argentine icon fits into the next part of the club’s grand project. By tying Messi down until 2028, Inter Miami can now count on the greatest of all-time to open their new stadium.
Freedom Park will open next year as Major League Soccer’s latest soccer-specific stadium. The 25,000-capacity venue near Miami International Airport has been a long time in coming. Inter Miami has played at a temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale since their entry into MLS five years ago. Messi deserves a more befitting footballing home.
Inter Miami will soon embark on another construction project. While Messi is sticking around, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets will retire when the Herons’ run in this season’s play-offs comes to an end. Meanwhile, Luis Suárez is fading physically, leaving Inter Miami with a lot of work ahead of them before 2026.
If Messi is staying in South Florida for another three years, Inter Miami will have to build another team around him. This is a club that has pushed the boundaries of what is possible in MLS and so it’s reasonable to presume there will be plans in place to give Messi a new and improved support system.
Neymar has previously been linked. The Brazilian is at Santos, but only a short-term deal that will reportedly end at the end of the year. The Chicago Fire tried to lure Neymar earlier this year, but the 33-year-old would surely favour a reunion with his former Barcelona teammate in Miami.
Kevin De Bruyne was mentioned as a potential target before the Belgian midfielder opted to join Napoli instead. It’s possible Inter Miami could reignite that interest at a future point, but De Bruyne is under contract in Serie A until 2026 by which time he’ll be 35 and firmly into the twilight of his career.
Rodrigo De Paul’s loan deal will become permanent before the 2026 season. The Argentinean international has given Inter Miami some much-needed mobility in the centre of the pitch since arriving from Atlético Madrid in the summer and could push the Herons to focus on strengthening other areas of their squad.
Defensively, Inter Miami have long been vulnerable. This was exposed by Atlanta United in Round One of the MLS play-offs last year and will be a weakness that could once again cost Messi and co. from going the distance in the post-season this year. Inter Miami lack a dominant defensive presence at the back.
Goalkeeper has also been a problem position. Oscar Ustari became Inter Miami’s first-choice between the posts for 2025, but has made a number of blunders and has contributed to a general nervousness in defence. If Inter Miami can upgrade on the 39-year-old for 2026, they should.
The pulling power of Messi allowed Inter Miami to assemble the strongest squad in MLS history. They were able to attract a number of the Argentine’s former Barcelona and international teammates like Suárez who isn’t even on a Designated Contract. Getting the band back together was a powerful idea.
What comes next will be trickier. Inter Miami surely have a desire to get younger. They have brought in talented youngsters like Telasco Segovia, Diego Gómez (now at Brighton) and Federico Redondo (now at Elche), but the Herons’ key performers are almost exclusively the wrong side of 30. That has been evident in some of their lethargic performances this year.
There is more than one way to build a championship-winning team in MLS. Atlanta United set a new precedent a decade ago by spending big on South Americans who otherwise would have gone straight to Europe. Could Inter Miami do something similar? Could they possibly even lure young talent from Europe to play with Messi before he retires?
Many hoped MLS would loosen the purse strings following Messi’s arrival two years ago, allowing clubs more freedom to spend as they please. At the very least, it was predicted in some quarters that the league would get rid of some of the red tape around roster construction. This, however, hasn’t happened.
“For starters, every team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants – without limitations or rules for players to bring them in,” said Messi in a recent interview, alluding to the spending restrictions that still prevent MLS clubs from going all out in the transfer market.
Nonetheless, Inter Miami have a variety of potential routes ahead of them and three more years to walk them with Messi still in their team when it was previously possible that this would be his final season in South Florida. It’s less clear who else will be in that team.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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