FORMER Barcelona and Argentina striker, Sergio Aguero, has claimed that seven times Ballon d'Or winner, Lionel Messi, decided to join the MLS club, Inter Miami instead of the Saudi Arabia club because of his family.
The 2022 World Cup winner moved to Inter Miami last month after rejecting a world-record contract from Saudi Arabian club, Al Hilal and also turned down the opportunity to return to Barcelona.
Aguero, who played with Lionel Messi at the national level, believes that the former Paris Saint-German forward opted for Inter Miami because it was less demanding, giving him enough time to be with his family.
“I think that at the end of this stage, with the age that Leo [Lionel Messi] and Cristiano are, and many players aged 32 and 33, maybe they are tired of so much demand to be at a high level,” Aguero told Stake.
“I think that Leo opted for him and his family to be well and to be able to play as relaxed as possible; and in the other case, if he had been playing in Europe, obviously that the requirement is different, and so he can’t play his last years the way he wanted, which is to enjoy, right?
“And obviously, I think that between Miami and Arabia, I think he chose Miami for convenience. Miami is a nice place, there are lots of Latinos, and I think he also saw it from the family side, which I think they can fit quite well in Miami, and in Arabia it can be more complicated, right? I think he saw nothing more than that,” he added.
Lionel Messi has settled well at Inter Miami, with the 36 years old scoring five goals in three appearances for the MLS side, with the five goals coming in 204 minutes of play.