Lionel Messi's move to the Major League Soccer (MLS) has a business standpoint other than just footballing reasons. Inter Miami signed him, amid interests from Saudi clubs and his former club, Barcelona. And here's why he chose Inter Miami instead of billion dollars and playing in Europe.

What encouraged Messi to leave PSG?

Lionel Messi | PSG| Sportz Point | Argentina | Barcelona — Lionel Messi, after he got jeered by the PSG supporters in his last game for the club. (Photo by **Getty Images**.)

The 35 year old Argentine is considered to be the greatest footballer in our generation by many people. He has won 7 Ballon d'Ors, most by any player in the world and other individual awards too like Fifa Player of the year, World Cup Golden Ball and more.

With Barcelona, he has won 4 Champions League trophies, 10 La Liga titles and many major trophies. With PSG too he has won the French League. But PSG fans are not a fan of Messi as they jeered Messi a couple of times during matches.

And in 2021, he has finally won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina and achieved his livelong goal of doing so. His goal after the World Cup has perhaps changed and he now wants to put himself and his family first. He said, "I want to get back to enjoy myself, to enjoy my family, my children, the day-to-day" while announcing his decision to leave Paris Saint German and join, not Barcelona, not any Saudi club but Inter Miami, a MLS club, co-owned by David Beckham.

Barcelona did try to sign him as he wanted to return to Camp Nou, but they couldn't work out a deal which looked appealing to Messi. And Messi was very clear from the very beginning that if he stayed in Europe he wouldn't play for any club other than Barcelona but unfortunately that didn't work out.

Why did Messi sign for Inter Miami?

Lionel Messi| World Cup | Apple TV| Sportz Point | Argentina| — Apple TV is gonna make a documentary series on Messi's World Cup win. (Photo by The **Telegraph India.**)

It wasn't easy for Inter Miami to sign Messi. They had to fight off the financial power of Saudi Arabia and Messi's love for Barcelona. It took them months of negotiations with MLS, the Miami ownership, Adidas and even Apple.

In 2022, Apple just signed a 10 year broadcast agreement with MLS. Every League match is gonna be broadcasted for the subscribers to the MLS Season Pass streaming service on Apple TV. The foundation of MLS's $2.5 billion agreement with Apple depends on the number of subscriptions bought, a portion of which could go to Messi as part of his deal, according to The Athletic.

Apple TV has also announced a four-episode documentary series that would showcase Messi's World Cup triumph as part of the deal to make the Argentine excited about this MLS move.

Adidas, who are Messi's long term sponsor, are also a sponsor of MLS. They've also offered Messi a portion of profits derived from his arrival in the MLS in merchandise sales.

Messi is going to also acquire more than 1/3rd of Inter Miami, similar toh David Beckham's transfer to MLS. Inter Miami has also sacked their current manager Phil Neville. Messi's signing would give Inter Miami a huge boast who are currently in the bottom half of the table in the league.

A state with no Income tax

Inter Miami | Sportz Point | — Inter Miami, Florida, United States of America. (Photo by **Andrea Montolivo / EFE**)

Messi To Inter Miami is definitely a good business deal but it is also a smart move because in Florida, there's no income tax. Messi's first goal is to clear US immigration with a Spanish Tax fraud conviction on his resume.

For athletes who get paid a lot, Florida is a great place to be. Florida doesn't have a state individual income tax. That is not a nincome tax free existence, it's just that playing for a team in Florida helps the athletes cut the cost of the bill. It's clear that Messi doesn't have to worry about the state income taxes if he's just living in Florida.

Messi is set to earn $130 million this year, making him world's second highest paid athlete after Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Forbes. The only difference is Messi's earnings would not depend on his performance on the field. More than half of his earnings is gonna come through endorsement deals.

Messi's record in the European soil

Lionel Messi | Ballon d'Ors | Sportz Point | — Messi's doing a photoshoot at Paris after winning the 7th Ballon D'Or. (Photo by **Getty Images**.)

Messi said his goodbye to Europe after he played his last game for PSG. He gave us many memorable moments of his brilliance which would be forever embedded in our hearts. So here we take a look at his records and stats for Barcelona and PSG as they are the only clubs in Europe he ever played for.

Appearances	853
Goals	704
Assists	303

Lional Messi's club stats.

Messi's World Records

The only player in history to win the Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Player, Pichichi Trophy and Golden Boot in the same season. It happened in the 2009/10 season.
Player with the most Ballons d'Or. He has won seven. They came in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021.
Youngest player to win three Ballons d'Or. He was 24 years, 6 months and 17 days old when he won the third on January 9, 2012.
Player with the most Golden Shoes. They came in the 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
Top scorer in a season in official competitions. He scored 73 goals in 2011/12 (50 in the league, 14 in the Champions League, 3 in the Copa del Rey, 3 in the Spanish Super Cup, 1 in the European Super Cup and 2 in the Club World Cup)
All-time top scorer in a calendar year. He scored 91 official goals in 2012. With Barça, 84 (59 in the league, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Copa del Rey, and 2 in the Super Cup) and with the Argentine national team, 12. He also managed another 5 in friendlies with Barça, which would see the figure rise to a total of 96 goals
Record of international goals in one year. He scored 25 goals in 2012 (13 in the Champions League and 12 with the Argentine national team), and shares the record with Vivian John Woodward, who scored 25 in 1909.
Top scorer for the same club. As of May 27, he has 672 goals, surpassing the 643 that Pelé scored with Santos between 1956 and 1974
Longest scoring streak in the league. He scored 33 goals in 21 consecutive matches from matchday 11 to 34 in the 2012/13 league season.
He has also won 2 World Cup Golden balls, which is given to the best player of the tournament, in 2014 and 2022 respectively.

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