Messi Wants MLS To Open Cup Purse Strings To Bring In More Stars

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR – DECEMBER 18: Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Winner’s Trophy on Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero’s shoulders after the team’s victory during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by David Ramos – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

FIFA via Getty Images

It’s not every day that Lionel Messi speaks to the media in the United States, especially the English-speaking variety.

Heck, Messi could say the sky is green with pink polka dots and the media would quote him because his comments have been so rare.

So, it was pretty big news when NBC on Monday released an interview with the Argentine soccer legend.

NBC News anchor Tom Llamas pulled off the exclusive interview. Llamas asked the questions in English (for the public) and then in Spanish (for Messi).

He wants to see Major League Soccer allow team owners to open up their purse strings to bring high-priced talent to the league.

“Every team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants without limitations or rules for players to bring them in,” Messi said. “I don’t think that today all teams in the United States, all clubs, have the power to do that, and I think that if they were given the freedom, many more important players would come and help the growth of the United States.”

American soccer lived and died by an unfortunate chapter in bringing in stars in the latter stages of their careers.

The NASL did it two generations ago

When Major League Soccer was introduced after the 1994 World Cup, which the U.S. hosted, it had many rules and a restrictive salary cap from stopping owners from overspending. Paying huge amounts for players, many of them past their prime, led to the downfall of the North American Soccer League, which folded after the 1984 season. The Cosmos loaded themselves up with some of the biggest names on the planet, including Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Giorgio Chinaglia, among others. Other teams tried to copy them and there was not enough money coming into club to make it viable.

There was no high-profile first division soccer until MLS in 1996. It started as a 10-team league and helped its 30th anniversary with 30 teams this season.

‘The unicorn of unicorns’

In contrast to NASL team owners, who were millionaires, and some clubs were community owned, MLS teams, by and large are owned by billionaires.

We don’t know how the powers that be at the MLS offices in New York City responded to that, but Messi certainly has been an asset to the league.

“I think he’s the unicorn of unicorns,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said after he presented Messi with the Golden Boot as the league’s top goal-scorer on Oct. 24. “There’s something about the way he’s wired in ways where you look at him, and he’s thinking about the game like nobody else ever has. His intensity and desire to win is what makes him the greatest of all time.

“There are a lot of really competitive players. But he has this special sauce, this dynamic that has him so focused on doing what he needs to do to win games. He doesn’t ever want to come out of the game. He’ll travel wherever he needs to travel. He’ll still do what he needs to do for his team off the field. That’s why he’s the G.O.A.T.”

The 2026 World Cup is on his mind

Perhaps the most important question for the American general sporting public was whether he will compete for Argentina in next summer’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“I would like to be there, to be well and be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there,” Messi told Llamas. “And I’m going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter Miami and see if I can really be 100 percent, if I can be useful to the group, to the national team, and then make a decision.

“We’re coming off winning the last World Cup, and being able to defend it on the field again is spectacular because it’s always a dream to play with the national team with the national team, especially in official competitions. … Hopefully God will allow me to do it once again.”

Three more years

Unless you have been living under a rock the past two decades, Messi is the most celebrated soccer player in the world.

He cut his domestic teeth with Barcelona in La Liga in Spain and continued that lofty reputation with the Argentina men’s national team.

In 2022, he added one honor and trophy that was missing from his seemingly endless list of accolades – the World Cup. As captain of Argentina, he proudly lofted the object of desire at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar and celebrated with his teammates.

Seven months later on July 15, 2023, he signed a three-year contract with Inter Miami CF, which ends this year. Recently, Messi signed a three-year extension that will run through the 2028 season.

“It makes me really happy to stay here and to continue with this project that, besides being a dream, has become a beautiful reality — playing in this stadium, at Miami Freedom Park,” Messi said in a statement released through the club. “Since I arrived in Miami, I’ve been very happy, so I’m truly glad to keep going here.”

The MLS Cup beckons

Actually, there is another trophy Messi would love to add to his resume – MLS Cup championship. He and Inter Miami CF have fallen short the last two years. After finishing third in the MLS Eastern Conference with a 19-7-8 mark, the South Florida side is hopeful of Messi raising the Philip F. Anschutz trophy on Saturday, Dec. 6. That, incidentally, is a day after the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., as Messi and his Argentine teammates will discover their group stage foes for next summer.

In his first competition with Inter Miami CF in 2024, Messi helped the team to win the Leagues Cup crown, a competition that involves MLS and Liga MX sides from Mexico.

But it isn’t the much-coveted league title.

He earned the MLS Golden Boot honors for his scoring prowess during the regular season on the strength of his 29 goals. Messi also contributed 19 assists to the Miami attack, and this writer contends that Messi’s superlative passing ability makes him so much more dangerous, not unlike the great Wayne Gretzky of hockey fame.

Messi is the odds-on favorite to be named MLS MVP. It would be stunning if he wasn’t.

But first things, first.

Inter Miami CF and Messi need to navigate themselves through the MLS Cup Playoffs. They continue their quest for their first title when they visit Nashville SC on Saturday, Nov. 1, in the second game of their best-of-three first-round series. Miami won the opening match, 3-1.

And yes, you guessed it, Messi scored twice and assisted on a third.

One thing the world and Argentine should do it to cry for Messi when it comes to his financial viability.

Don’t cry for him, Argentina

According to an Oct. 16 story by Forbes.com’s Justin Birnbaum, Messi is the second highest paid soccer player in the world with an annual income of $130 million. His rival, Portuguese international striker Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list at $280 million.

Way back in 2008, this writer had the opportunity and privilege of watching and writing about a 21-year-old Messi and Argentina capture the men’s Olympic soccer gold medal at the Beijing Summer Olympics.

While at the cusp of his legendary career, there was no doubt Messi was the real deal.

At the time I wrote this about the player who is called the G.O.A.T.:

In his short, yet productive and spectacular, career, the 21-year-old Messi already has started to cast a shadow of his own. He is so quick and so skilled, it would not be outrageous to call his moves and his goals, ahem, Messi-anic, because many of them are such works of art.

He feigns one way, jukes another, waiting for the opposing defender to commit himself and then he is off to the races. The goal line is his finish line. He pulled off those types of moves several during Argentina’s 2-1 quarterfinal win over the Netherlands in extra time in Shanghai Saturday night.

As to whether Messi is the G.O.A.T., there is plenty to debate, especially among the fans of Pele, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.

We’ll leave that to another piece in the future.

Right now, let’s enjoy one of the greatest soccer players of all time and hope his body will say yes to playing one more time in the greatest show on earth – aka the World Cup – next year.

Michael Lewis last week was selected by the United Soccer Coaches as the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award. Lewis, who will be honored at the organization’s convention in January, can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at @soccerwriter.