Lionel Messi would like to play his club soccer in the United States. Not necessarily right now, but at some point in his career.
Messi made that statement in a wide-ranging interview on Spanish show Lo de Evole that was released on Sunday. The Barcelona superstar said playing in MLS is something he would like to do in the future, though he added that he was not sure if it would ever come to pass.
“I have always had the dream of being able to enjoy and experience what it is like living in the United States and experiencing the league and life there,” Messi told Lo de Evole in Spanish. “I would like to experience that. Whether it will happen or not, I do not know.”
La pregunta del millón. Y la respuesta. #MessiÉvole pic.twitter.com/3B2M9SwROJ
— Producciones del Barrio (@delbarriotv) December 27, 2020
Messi, 33, is in the final year of his current deal with Barcelona. His return to the only club that he has played for professionally is not a given due to the well-documented issues that have transpired on and off the field at the Spanish power in recent times.
As is the case with players that are six months away from becoming free agents, Messi could negotiate and sign a pre-contract with another team as soon as January. The Argentine stated, however, that his focus is on finishing the campaign with Barcelona and then going from there.
“I am not thinking about what will happen when the year ends,” said Messi. “Right now it would not be good for me to say and I also do not know what will happen.”
The skillful attacker and Barcelona are in the midst of a tough campaign. They currently sit in fifth place in La Liga on 24 points, eight shy of table-topping Atletico Madrid.
Messi, who recently broke the record for most goals with a single club, has scored 10 times in 18 matches across all competitions this season.
Messi at 37, 38 playing for the Galaxy, NYFC, or InterMIA. A season, a season and a half like Rooney, Pirlo, & Zlatan did. That’s not hard to imagine at all, especially leading up to a WC on home-soil. Would boost futbol in the US past MLB. I’m also sure there would be other big name players in the MLS by ‘24-‘25 also.
This Summer was he was trying to get to Man City, if he’s still talking 3 or 4 years from now I’m not sure it really moves the bar in terms of play but would still give a Beckham like pr boost.
I’m not sure about that. I think if he is gonna have a “Beckham” like influence over the landscape, the time to make that move is NOW! Beckham was 32 when he came. Messi is 33 and will be 34 next summer …
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He could come on a 3.5 contract starting next summer. From a marketing standpoint MLS should make this happen. 6 months of MLS hype + a whole year of Fox/ESPN hype leading into the FWC. This would be a huge coup for MLS … plus their calendar (Mar-Dec) puts them in a great window for ’22 to be the tipping point from MLS 3.0 – 4.0.