How much easier it would have been if everyone had listened to Ferran Soriano in 2005. Barcelona would have a solution to its salary crisis, MLS would have a better deal with broadcasters, and Messi would know precisely what he would do after Barca.

But the conservatives from Catalonia insisted on their own, and the commercial director did not sign a contract with the head of the MLS, Don Garber. This agreement would have marked the creation of a New York version of Barcelona. Eight years will pass, and Soriano will successfully share his idea with Manchester City.

So there is no Barcelona franchise in the US, and Messi is gone. We discussed where he would be next for a long time, and even options with the MLS surfaced, but the Argentine is not yet ready to say goodbye to European football. But in the future — entirely. Everything indicates that he is already thinking about this option. So let’s look at the most realistic options.

Plan A: Miami

Messi loves Florida, but he is always welcome there.

After finally winning America’s Cup, Leo and Luis Suarez went to Key Biscayne, an island town with costly real estate in the southeast of Miami. This is not the first time Messi has been here: he obviously likes it here. The sun is shining, everyone speaks Spanish, and there are no eternal paparazzi and fans on the streets.

And David Beckham’s Inter, launched in 2020 after many years of preparation, is also playing here. He went to this for a long time: it all started with his transfer to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007-then. He received the highest salary in the history of the league and the right to buy a team outside of New York for $ 25 million. For comparison, the owners of “Charlotte”, which will become the 28th franchise of the MLS, paid 325 million. Beckham is not a fool.

However, he can’t be proud of his guys so far: Inter is famous for the highest salaries in the country… and nothing else. But, unfortunately, the team is terrible and plays very severely.

The club itself belongs to Beckham, Jorge and Jose Masam-Cuban-American brothers, who own the construction company MasTec, a Japanese billionaire and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and Marcelo Claire-the CEO of the aforementioned bank.

The terrible results clarify why Klaure, who previously did a lot for Inter, is selling 50% of his shares. The Mas brothers can buy them out for 270 million. If they do, the cost of the new team will be estimated at $ 540 million — an incredible amount for a team in the league whose television rights are worth less than the rights to the Championship.

Anyway, at the moment, it is most likely that the shares will go to either the Saudi sheikh or an Argentine consortium that wants to make Messi the face of its brand. This makes sense: Messi is famous in the United States. It seems to many the same push that will allow the MLS to raise the bar and attract more investors and better players.

AJ Suoboda, managing director of the consulting agency Twenty-First Group, believes that the arrival of Messi “will change everything.” Moreover, there are many indications that Messi himself wants to move. For example, his older brother Rodrigo works at KIN Partners — a talent agency run by Beckham’s ex-agent Simon Oliveira. Rodrigo is the CEO of Lionel Messi Sports Management, and Inter uses KIN Partners to find new sponsors.

Everything seems to fit… except for one thing. Not even one.

In the United States, there is a rule that allows three players in a team to earn significantly more than teammates, and at the same time, a high salary can easily break through the salary “ceiling”, which is strictly here. But even with this rule, Messi’s requirements are such that no one in the United States can even come close to them. Last season, he earned the same amount at Barca as the five largest clubs in the country spend on salaries! Carlos Vela and Javier Hernandez, the highest-paid players, earned six million dollars — one-tenth of what Messi would have received.

Inter also violated the number of players: having signed one more player, the club is now forced to operate for two years with a noticeably reduced budget.

Well, the question is: does Inter need two-star faces to advertise itself? There is still a Beckham here. And does Adidas want its two big clients to work on the same coast and in the same city?

Plan B: Las Vegas

Not so long ago, a big football event was held in the suburbs of Las Vegas-the CONCACAF Gold Cup. It was held at the Las Vegas Raiders stadium, and more than 61 thousand people came to the match. Even Don Garber was impressed by the excitement caused by the event.

Vegas has been actively manifesting itself in the sports arena in recent years, trying to acquire new clubs and teams. For example, the Vegas Golden Knights NHL team was born, and it is rumoured that the Oakland Athletics baseball team will also move here. Well, boxing has been held here for many years.

Do you need land for a new stadium? No questions, there is a lot of this stuff here. Do you want a permit for a hotel and a conference centre? There is nothing easier, hotels in Vegas love.

At the beginning of the year, such conversations would not have been conducted because the MLS already had newcomers for debuts in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Still, in February, the Sacramento Republic decided to withdraw from the project. And then every city on the waiting list rushed to do something. Among them are Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Phoenix and San Diego.

In the USA and Vegas, they still remember Beckham’s influence on the league, but in Messi, it seems to them even more of a star. And they have already made attempts to attract the Argentine: during the Sunday cup, there was a meeting between the mayor of the city Carolyn Goodman, Jorge Messi, the father of the football player, and representatives of various interested parties.

Various things were discussed: whether the brand-new “Elite Stadium” is suitable for MLS, how long it will take the city to create professional football conditions, and the chances of development for the “Las Vegas Lights”.

The club is owned by Brett Lashbrook, who is desperately trying to turn Vegas into a sports capital. Cheap tickets, free tacos, llama mascots — he tried everything. Once, he even flew over the fans in a helicopter and sprinkled them with banknotes.

Their stadium, Cashman Field, boasts only two bleachers because it was built for baseball, but even with this disadvantage, Lashbrook tried to turn it into a plus, allowing fans to park right next to the football field and watch the game like this. He even put several swimming pools at the edge.

A great attempt, but the stadium is still without a roof, rain cover, drainage, and only 9 thousand seats. Its primary value is the land on which it stands. The fact is that it is located very close to the Las Vegas Strip — a seven-kilometre section of Las Vegas Boulevard, where the most prominent hotels and casinos are located.

American billionaire Seth Klarman has already thought about dealing with such a shiny piece of real estate, but he is not the only shark friendly with the mayor. And if Messi suddenly appears in the city, there will be no way to fight off investors.

“Miami and Las Vegas are the most obvious places for Messi in the future,” according to Deloitte.

The question remains: if Barcelona, the largest team in Europe, cannot afford it, then how will the MLS club allow it?

“The fact is that the MLS model is very competent from a financial point of view, but the rules and exceptions allow you to get out very cleverly. If necessary, they will find a way to circumvent all the prohibitions. It’s always like this.”

Suoboda is sure that the MLS will not miss the opportunity to get Messi. On the contrary, it will attract new viewers, conclude new broadcasting contracts and reach new fans. Especially considering that there are many Spanish speakers, and they are already actively watching football on TV.

Messi, most likely, will also be offered a future franchise — it was a ride with Beckham. They can give him a part of the club itself, as was the case with Didier Drogba and Phoenix Rising. In other words, if the Argentine is not against this idea, the Americans will achieve their goal even if you have to rewrite all the rules again. The league is young, nothing terrible — not for the first time.

Let’s go back to Soriano and his idea to turn Barcelona into an American franchise. In 2009, he wrote and published the book “Goal: The ball flies into the goal for a reason”, and 12 months later, he left the club. The book, by the way, was advertised by Messi himself — it is “excellent”, in his words.

In it, you can read about how Soriano attended the MLS Cup final between the New England Revolution and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Then he was most surprised by how the audience lined up for hot dogs even after the start of the match. It was not at all like the scenes in the European stands. “No crazy emotions or tantrums of losers for you. Not a single tear on the faces of the fans. It’s just a match, just entertainment to distract yourself. And no more.”

Ask Ronaldo, and he will tell you that he only wants to play in the Champions League.

To qualify for the most prestigious club competition on the planet, Juventus had to snatch a victory from Bologna on the last day of the season while hoping that their opponents would not let them down. Ronaldo is always good in such high-profile games, but for some reason, coach Andrea Pirlo dismissed him.

Allegedly, the Portuguese are “tired”, having taken part in five matches in 19 days. Maybe so, but even at the age of 36, Ronaldo is the standard of physical form, always perfect. Even when he’s exhausted, he’s a threat.

As we now know, Torino managed without him. But even then, there was nothing to celebrate — this is the end of the campaign except as a failure for the grandee can not be called. A change was needed, and a change came in the face of the returning Massimiliano Allegri, who had been well-rested for two years. He’s a master at working with the stars, but we still don’t know if he’ll ever want to hang out with Ronaldo. There are many indications that the Portuguese superstar’s time in Italy has come to an end. “Having achieved what I have achieved, I can say that I have achieved my goal, which I set before moving to Italy.”

Andrea Agnelli says he has never regretted his decision to break the Serie A transfer record by signing Ronaldo for 105 million euros. You can understand it.

The mere fact of signing Ronaldo praised Juve’s status. It immediately became clear that the “old signora” really returned to the peak of its importance because even one of the two leading stars of the planet agreed to the transition.

Ronaldo believed that if not Real Madrid, then Juventus. Torino fought in the LCH every year, but they needed a leader. He was the missing link that would have made it possible to achieve real success in the fields of Europe. Not surprisingly, as soon as he appeared in Turin, the fans began to chant, “give us the Champions League”.

And whatever he did in Italy, it all came down to one thing — the LCH. The Scudetto is the concern of Higuain, Mandzukic and Dybala, and others will handle the Italian Cup. But the European Cup is a challenge for the real titans. And if we judge Ronaldo’s time only by his success in the LCH, then there is nothing to be happy about. Well, Agnelli’s feint ended in a fiasco: with each new season, Juve was eliminated from the tournament earlier and earlier. And who knocked it out? Ajax, Lyon and Porto.

It didn’t help, of course, that along with the transfer, a period of instability began when three coaches were replaced in three years. And the further away, the weaker Juventus was. But you have to blame everyone, not just one person. Especially when this one person was doing his best, this season, Ronaldo is the fastest ever to reach the 100 goal mark in Italy. In three years, he has won every trophy that can be won. Well, in Italy. If he were anyone else, we would say that the transfer was more than successful.

But was it worth it, given that Torino had to pay 31 million directly to Ronaldo in addition to the high price tag?

The club says yes. That ticket sales have picked up, and better sponsorship deals have been made with Adidas, Jeep and Allianz, not to mention an increased number of fans on social media.

If you round it up, on average, Ronaldo costs Juventus 80 million euros each year. And even after all the players agreed to the reduced salaries, the figure remained more than impressive.

So what’s next?

Ronaldo is well aware that his contract does not expire until next year. And he has many reasons not to rush to leave.

Recently, vice-president Pavel Nedved said that ” Pirlo is staying — just like Ronaldo.” One is already gone, waiting for the second? Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez also said something like that: when asked if her boyfriend was leaving, she said briefly, ” Se Queda.” It remains.

But who will pull Ronaldo’s salary? This is precisely the reason that will motivate him not to rush to leave. But we can’t tell what the striker is thinking. If not Juventus, then who?

Real Madrid again?

Whether it is essential or not, think for yourself that the other day a truck with expensive supercars of a football player made a 16-hour trip from his home in Turin to another house in Madrid.

Uncertainty over whether he will stay at Juventus cannot fuel further speculation that he is interested in returning to Real Madrid, where he has scored 450 goals and won 16 trophies, including four Champions Leagues, in nine seasons.

This summer, the budget of Perez will be reduced by 100 million euros, in connection with which the team will leave such prominent people as Sergio Ramos. Given that Real Madrid is always trying to save on wages, we are unlikely to see Cristiano in Madrid. He goes it is understandable: in the city centre, he has a hotel and a luxury specialized clinic. His girlfriend’s family lives there, too.

What about going back to Manchester?

After 2009, Manchester United thought a lot about how to get their pupil back. The commercial benefits are apparent, and Ronaldo himself remains a top player. And even though he’s soon 37, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wouldn’t mind giving him a chance. After all, he was only “in favour” of inviting 34-year-old Edinson Cavani.

The Norwegian himself respects Ronaldo, who played with him in the same team in the 2003-04 season. In his opinion, he is the coolest teammate of his career, just above even Paul Scholes. And the coach is still communicating with the Portuguese, who advised him to pay attention to his compatriot Bruno Fernandes.

United also have the money for such a move. The transfer cost may be moderate since Juve will only get rid of the player with the most significant salary.

Pension in France

A move to France seems logical — that’s where Ronaldo hasn’t played yet. He has already played — and won-in England, Spain and Italy, and it remains only to win the French trophies. Here, too, there is a money club in the face of PSG.

However, we know that Parisians do not plan to spend much. Even the Qatari sheikh-owned club has suffered from the effects of the pandemic and doesn’t want to take any chances. Therefore, in recent months, the Parisians have only thought about extending the contracts of their main stars like Neymar. And in the summer, the primary “transfer” will be a new agreement with Kylian Mbappe.

There is information that last summer, PSG already received the opportunity to buy Ronaldo but refused. Jorge Mendes, the footballer’s agent, often attends Paris Saint-Germain games, but his relationship with President Nasser Al-Khelaifi has soured slightly in recent years.

Return to Sporting?

After Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his career, Sporting President Federico Varandas proposed to rename the stadium “Jose Alvalade” in honour of the five-time winner of the Golden Ball.

This year, the club won the championship for the first time since Ronaldo left for Manchester in 2003. Varandas spoke on national television, saying that he believes that the return of the striker is possible.

“Cristiano was one of the first to congratulate me on my victory. But for now, he has an agreement with Juventus, where he wants to win the league. Everything depends on him, but he is not only a great player but also a Sporting fan.

Cristiano’s mother also promised to talk to him: “I will try to persuade him to come back and try on the colours of Sporting,” she said on TVI 24.

This development is quite possible, because Sporting is an exciting team, with players like Pedro Goncalves and Nuno Mendes. And coach Ruben Amorim is considered a rising star.

But the player’s agent was quick to dash the hopes of the Portuguese fans: “At the moment, Ronaldo has no plans to return. He is proud of Sporting’s achievements, but his mind is elsewhere.”