Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham denied Messi loan as transfer plans ‘confirmed’
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham denied Messi loan as transfer plans ‘confirmed’
Lionel Messi has been linked with a temporary switch away from Inter Miami with the MLS season set to end later this month
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Lionel Messi is expected to go on holiday after the MLS season finishes as opposed to making a loan switch to play in one of Europe’s top five leagues (Image: (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images))
In the following months, Messi scored 11 goals in 13 games, however only one of those came in MLS action with the Argentine playing just 72 minutes since early September because of injury. His absence has seemingly cost Inter Miami in the league with a 1-0 defeat FC Cincinnati this past Saturday ruling them out of play-off contention with their season set to end on October 21, 2023.
However, it is certainly not a season of disappointment for Inter Miami with Messi, as captain, guiding his team to a League Cup triumph where he scored in every round including in the final against Nashville in August. Despite his injury issues for his club, Messi has still been able to feature for Argentina and he is expected to play in his country’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru.
Despite Messi only signing for Inter Miami a few months ago, his next possible destination has already been discussed at length with a sensational return to Barcelona still being mooted despite the financial constraints that stopped the transfer in the summer. A move to Saudi Arabia alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar has also been rumoured, however according to Spanish journalist Guillem Balague neither of those things are going to happen imminently.
“Messi will have around one month holiday, like other footballers. So forget any move to Saudi or similar,” Balague revealed as per BBC Sport. Loan moves for MLS stars in the off-season was once a regular occurrence, however overseas temporary switches are now far less common and it does not look as though Messi is going to break that trend.
Inter Miami boss Tata Martino also brushed off the rumour regarding Messi joining his former club. “That’s surprising,” he said after the weekend defeat. “I know nothing about that. If you’re telling me that he’s going to go visit Barcelona on vacation, yes, it’s probable, but I don’t have any information on the other part.”
Meanwhile, even if he was available, it would be very unlikely that Arsenal make it known they want to sign Messi on a short-term loan given Mikel Arteta’s stance on the signings made by the club, preferably needing to be a certain age. Nonetheless, Messi in the Premier League still would have been a joy to watch, if only for a brief spell, but it still remains an unlikely transfer given he also has a number of years left on his Inter Miami contract.
