Barcelona is sad that Lionel Messi went to play in Major League Soccer.
Wednesday afternoon, the soccer star made it official that he was going to join Inter Miami. Soon after that news, the president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, couldn’t help but make fun of the US soccer league, which is getting bigger and bigger.
“President Laporta understood and respected Messi’s decision to play in a league with less demands and less pressure,” Barcelona said in a statement wishing Messi “the best of luck.”
Inter Miami beat out Barcelona and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to sign Messi after his deal with Paris Saint-Germain ends at the end of the month.
This was the end of a long search for the best player in the world. Before moving to PSG in 2021, Messi won four Champions League titles and ten La Liga wins with Barcelona.
Even though Barcelona said it gave Messi the chance to come back, he reportedly got two other offers that were much better.
Saudi Arabia reportedly offered Messi more than $1 billion to join their league, and Inter Miami reportedly made a creative offer that included marketing deals with Apple and Adidas and the chance to buy a minority stake in the team.
Even though Barcelona is said to have never made an official offer to Messi, they still chose to criticize MLS.
La Liga is one of the best leagues in the world, and MLS is a long way from the center of soccer in Europe. But MLS is growing quickly—it plans to add a 30th team in San Diego, which was announced earlier this year—and Messi’s arrival will help with that.
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