Lionel Messi’s Heartwarming Reason for Choosing Miami Over Billions in Saudi Arabia

Lionel Messi broke the internet by announcing he would move his entire family to Miami. The famous player signed a four-year contract with Inter Miami, partially owned by his friend David Beckham.

Although the deal appears to be worth billions, this is not why he decided to move to America.

And while the details of the lucrative deal are still on the table for discussion, some terms of the Major Soccer League (MLS) proposal have been leaked to the media.

Broadly speaking, yes, Messi will earn an absurd amount of money. However, it is significantly less than the offer he received from a Saudi Arabian team, which was rumored to be around $3 billion.

Furthermore, the challenges of moving across the Atlantic were many for the player.

Lionel Messi has lived in Paris with his family for the past two years. Returning to Barcelona, the city and the team that served as his home for 21 years, was also possible. 

So, it begs the question: why didn’t Messi follow the playbook of teammate and arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who did move to Saudi Arabia to play for Al-Nass? Or why not return to Barcelona?

Messi decided to follow his heart and chose Miami

In an interview with Spanish news outlets “Sport” and “Mundo Deportivo,” Messi revealed that his primary motivation for joining Inter Miami was the welfare of his family.

The soccer sensation and his wife, Antonella Rocuzzo, have three children — Thiago, their first son born in 2012; Mateo in 2015 and Ciro in 2018.

Messi explained that his decision to move to Miami was due to a desire to prioritize himself and his family. The player was determined to seek that “something more,” of which he often spoke, away from Europe.

The player said of his two years in Paris, “I was not happy. I wasn’t enjoying myself, and that affected my family life.” Messi said that he missed a lot of his children’s lives. Although the situation was a bit better in Barcelona, the family needed a change.

“I spent two years that on a family level, I was so bad that I didn’t enjoy it,” he told “Mundo Deportivo.” “I had that month that was spectacular for me because I won the World Cup, but apart from that, it was a difficult period for me. I want to return to enjoying myself, my family, my children, the day-to-day… And that’s why I decided not to go to Barcelona.”

And that decision has fans all over the United States in an uproar of joy.

So, how much will Messi earn in his new contract?

For those wondering about the financial aspects, it’s clear that the offer played an important role. 

According to several sources, besides his signing bonus and salary, which will undoubtedly exceed seven figures, Messi will also receive a share of the deal between MLS and Apple TV, which owns the broadcasting rights to all the league’s matches.

In addition, he will be able to purchase an MLS team once he retires and earn a significant percentage of the sales of his Inter Miami merchandise, starting with the highly anticipated pink Adidas jerseys.

So yes, we are indeed talking billions of dollars.

But the best thing about it for the famous player is that his family already owns a house in Miami. This location also brings them much closer to their beloved Argentina.