Messi makes it official, signs with MLS’ Inter Miami

Lionel Messi has finalized his deal to join Major League Soccer, and after years of planning and pursuing, Inter Miami has landed a global icon, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Messi’s contract became official Saturday, a little more than five weeks after he declared that he would be coming to Inter Miami. The team will introduce him tonight at its stadium in Fort Lauderdale, and the first home match of the Messi era could be as early as Friday in a Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul.

A news conference is scheduled for Monday, and his first training session with his new club is expected on Tuesday. The club previously announced that Messi’s deal will be for 21⁄2 seasons and will pay him between $50 million and $60 million annually — putting the total contract value between $125 million and $150 million in cash alone.

“BIENVENIDO 10,” the team posted Saturday on Twitter. Welcome, Messi, indeed. “We are overjoyed that the greatest player in the world chose Inter Miami CF and Major League Soccer, and his decision is a testament to the momentum and energy behind our League and our sport in North America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “We have no doubt that Lionel will show the world that MLS can be a League of Choice for the best players in the game.”

It is, in many ways, an unusual marriage. Messi — still perhaps the biggest star in the game — is signing with a team that entered Saturday in last place in the MLS’S Eastern Conference standings. It’s a club in just its fourth season that plays in a temporary home that will seat only about 22,000 people when some rushed renovations like adding extra bleacher seats get completed.

Doesn’t matter. Soccer royalty now plays for Inter Miami.

Messi arrived in South Florida on Tuesday following vacation, then started the process of physicals and paperwork on Wednesday and the deal got finalized Saturday afternoon. The seventime Ballon d’or winner — the trophy given annually to the world’s best player — is making his Miami move after two years with Paris Saint-germain.

“I’m very excited to start this next step in my career with Inter Miami and in the United States,” Messi said in a statement. “This is a fantastic opportunity and together we will continue to build this beautiful project. The idea is to work together to achieve the objectives we set, and I’m very eager to start helping here in my new home.”

Messi was seen at a Publix supermarket near Fort Lauderdale — the grocery chain is an Inter Miami sponsor — with his family earlier in the week, and the cart had a few items picked out by the kids: Froot Loops, Cap’n Crunch, Lucky Charms. The scene went viral by the time he hit the checkout lane.

A serial goal scorer is evidently a cereal fan as well.

Trivia question

In 1920, Babe Ruth hit a record 54 home runs. What was the previous record?

He said it

From Ruth: “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”

Trivia answer

Ruth also owned the previous mark, 29 hit in the previous season. George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns was second in 1920 with only 19.