Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague has said to ‘forget any move to Saudi or similar’ with regards to Lionel Messi after the 2023 Major League Soccer season.
There was renewed speculation linking Messi with a loan move away from Inter Miami and to the Saudi Pro League after his Floridian franchise failed to make the Eastern Conference playoffs but that has been dismissed by Balague, a Spanish football expert who works for BBC Sport.
Inter Miami’s season will finish on Saturday 21st October after two fixtures, home and away, against Charlotte in the space of three days after they had their failure to finish in the top nine confirmed at the weekend with a 1-0 loss at home to FC Cincinnati.
That defeat, in which Messi came off the bench following an injury, extended their winless run of form to five matches across all competitions, including a 2-1 loss to Houston Dynamo in the US Open Cup final.
The form of Inter Miami since Messi’s arrival has been in line with when the Argentina captain, who helped his nation win their third FIFA World Cup last winter in Qatar, has been available for selection.
They were floundering adrift at the bottom of the Eastern Conference but went on an 11-match unbeaten run of form across all competitions after he made his debut, which included winning Inter Miami’s first ever piece of silverware, the Leagues Cup, and helping them into the final of the aforementioned US Open Cup.
After sustaining an injury and being forced off in their 4-0 defeat of Toronto in mid-September, Tata Martino’s side have suffered three defeats with two draws.
The 36-year-old six-time winner of the Ballon d’Or had been linked with a move to Al-Hilal in the summer but no specific club had been mentioned this time around. Balague has now said Messi will have a one-month holiday after the season ends and be back with Inter Miami for pre-season in January.
