Football: Lionel Messi arrives in Florida to finalise Inter Miami move
Argentine star Lionel Messi landed in Florida on Tuesday ahead of putting the final touches on his move to US Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Argentine television footage showed Messi, with members of his family, walking off a private jet at a small, executive airport adjacent to Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The World Cup winner is expected to put pen to paper on a two and a half year deal, reported to be worth $60 million a year, before being presented to fans at a stadium event on Sunday.
«We are happy with the decision we made. Prepared and eager to face the new challenge, the new change,» Messi said in an interview with Argentine TV show, Llave a la eternidad, released on Tuesday. «My mentality and my head are not going to change and I am going to try, wherever I have to be, to give my best for myself and my new club and continue to perform at the highest level,» he added.
Messi is the biggest name to ever move to MLS and the greatest player to head to the United States since Brazilian great Pele signed for the New York Cosmos in 1975. MLS hope that Messi will massively increase the profile of the league and boost subscriptions to their streaming broadcast deal with Apple TV. Ticket prices for games likely to involve Messi have already sky-rocketed.
Fans had begun to gather at the club's DRV PNK stadium early in the morning ahead of his expected arrival. One of the supporters, Julio Iglesias, 42 said he founded the 'Messias 305' fan group when he learned the Argentine star was coming to Miami. He didn't previously watch MLS games but said he now won't miss any Miami matches. «For us, Messi coming means everything, wherever he goes there is always incredible happiness,» he said, while standing by a
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