Football: Lionel Messi says he’s headed to USA, signs up for David Beckham co-owned Inter Miami

Lionel Messi will sign for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, the player said on Wednesday in interviews with Spanish media, choosing the United States as his next destination over a Barcelona reunion or blockbuster deal to play in Saudi Arabia.

“I’ve decided that I am going to Miami, I don’t have (the deal) 100 percent sealed or maybe there’s something left to do, but we decided to continue our path there,” Messi told Spanish newspapers Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo.

One of Inter Miami’s owners, Jorge Mas, tweeted out a photo of a darkly silhouetted Messi jersey shortly before the Argentinian great revealed his decision, reported Associated Press.

A big-money switch to Saudi Arabia appeared the most likely destination for the 35-year-old until recently. But Messi has decided to move to the MLS, to the club co-owned by David Beckham, once his his two-year contract with French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain ends this month.

Previous reports and a source close to the negotiations suggested he could join Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and World Cup-winning French midfielder N’Golo Kante on a lucrative contract to play in Saudi Arabia.

Messi, with Benzema and Kante, was on a list of 10 targets who have been contacted by Saudi officials, a source close to the negotiations had earlier told AFP this week.

Inter Miami sacked coach Phil Neville last week, replacing the Englishman, incidentally, with Messi’s compatriot Javier Morales.

There is now a distinctly Argentine feel to the Miami club, which has a strong South American fan base. Along with Morales, goalkeeping coach Sebastian Saja played four times for the national side and spent eight years with Argentine club San Lorenzo.

Federico Higuain, the brother of former Argentina and Real Madrid forward Gonzalo, is the head coach of Inter’s reserve team, assisted by compatriot Cristian Raul Ledesma.

With AFP inputs