MLS

MLS commissioner says league has 'flexibility' to pursue Lionel Messi

Updated Mar. 4, 2023 5:29 p.m. ET

With just three months remaining in the Ligue 1 season, Lionel Messi has yet to reach an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain on a contract extension. If that doesn't change by the time the European transfer window opens on July 1, teams will have the opportunity to make their pitch to arguably the greatest player of all time, and MLS commissioner Don Garber is confident in the league's ability to make a competitive offer.

"Teams have the flexibility to do unique things," Garber told The Athletic in a recent interview. "MLS is a single entity. If you're selling something that the collective owns, the collective has to approve that. So whatever [Inter Miami owner] Jorge [Mas] decides, with [MLS executive vice president Todd Durbin's] help to structure something, if we have the opportunity to do that, it's going to be outside the box.

"Because as you all know what's going on in international football today, with [Cristiano] Ronaldo at $100m [a year] ... the transfer market is just exploding in ways that are unimaginable. We're going to have to structure a deal that's going to compensate him in ways that he and his family expect. What that is? Honestly, we don't know today, but he's probably not going to be a [targeted allocation money] player."

The highest-paid player in Major League Soccer is currently Lorenzo Insigne, who nets $14 million annually with Toronto FC. That's just more than half of the $26 million per year that Messi makes with PSG, and significantly less than what clubs in Saudi Arabia are expected to offer the 35-year-old.

To bridge that gap, an MLS team can offer Messi a deal similar to the one that David Beckham signed with the LA Galaxy in 2007, Beckham signed a five-year, $32.5 million contract with the Galaxy, but his contract also included a revenue share in the club. According to Forbes, Beckham's earnings in MLS were closer to $255 million. Beckham's contract also included an option to buy an MLS expansion team for a fixed rate of $25 million. His club, Inter Miami CF, is now valued at $600 million.

A contract of that size would be more risky today than it was then because of how much the league has grown, but Messi is the type of player who could be worth going all in for, especially with the FIFA World Cup coming to the United States in 2026.

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