Xavier Asensi: Lionel Messi has taken Inter Miami "to another level" financially

The former-Barcelona player runs the Floridian club's finances and expects to rake in o er $200m this year

To think of Inter Miami is to think of Lionel Messi, but behind him there is a man who works in the shadows and is arguably more important than the FIFA World Cup winner. Xavier Asensi is the general manager of the club with the biggest economic and media growth in 2023 and this year he expects to turn over at least $200 million.

This exponential growth in economic figures is due, in part, to agreements with large international companies that have linked their image with that of Inter Miami and Messi, who is widely regarded as the greatest soccer player of all time. The latest has been with international giant Visa.

«With the arrival of Messi, we have gone from having budgeted just over 60 million to end up billing around 125 or 130 million dollars,» Asensi told EFE. «That's a huge amount for a temporary stadium.

»We are very happy with this sponsorship. It is a matter not only of quantity but also of quality. We are looking for those 'partners' that take us to another level and there are also obviously Royal Caribbean and JP Morgan Chase."

Messi joined David Beckham's MLS side in the middle of 2023 after confirming his exit from PSG and European soccer, becoming the biggest coup in the history of the league and arguably all of American sports.

By penning his name to Inter Miami, Messi transformed the amount of attention on the MLS and his new club overnight as fans, brands and millions of people began to watch the league with intense focus to see how the Argentinian would perform.

«Leo takes you to another level,» Asensi added. «But then also the levels of demand you ask of the partners are different.

»We are very happy