Lionel Messi mentioned MLS should loosen its spending restrictions to grow to be a prime league within the soccer world and mentioned he’s hopeful he can contribute bodily to Argentina at subsequent summer time’s World Cup.
In a uncommon interview with an American outlet, Messi spoke with NBC Nightly Information anchor Tom Llamas at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Within the interview, Messi was requested if he thought soccer may grow to be as standard within the US as American sports activities like soccer, baseball and basketball. Messi mentioned he thinks the game can get there, however that first groups have to have extra freedom.
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“Every staff ought to have the chance to carry gamers and signal whoever every staff desires – with out limitations or guidelines for gamers to signal them,” Messi mentioned. “I don’t assume that in the present day each staff in america, each membership, has the ability to try this, and I feel that in the event that they got freedom, many extra necessary gamers would come and assist the expansion of america.”
MLS has operated all through its existence with a mysterious rulebook governing participant signings, meant to manage spending, promote aggressive steadiness between groups and, in its early days, forestall groups from competing for gamers in opposition to one another. Most of the unique guidelines that fashioned this construction have been eradicated or modified, however MLS groups in the present day should nonetheless strategy roster building strategically whereas navigating a mess of roster guidelines and classes.
Every staff in MLS is allowed as much as three designated participant (DP) slots, permitting them to accumulate gamers like Messi, who they’ll pay no matter they need, solely counting in opposition to the wage cap of that season’s most annual wage ($743,750 in 2025). Groups may “purchase” cap gamers utilizing numerous types of cash allocation. The league’s U22 initiatives provide monetary incentives for groups to signal younger gamers that they’ll later promote.
Discussions about modifying or fully eliminating these guidelines have been circulating for years, however have gained momentum since Messi’s arrival and Inter Miami’s success on and off the sphere. Messi’s voice, then, will carry some weight – however the closing determination will relaxation with MLS house owners.
Elsewhere within the interview, Messi mentioned he intends to play within the 2026 World Cup for Argentina, though he acknowledges that his age can be an necessary issue.
“I want to be there, be nicely and be an necessary a part of serving to my staff, if I’m there,” he mentioned. “I’ll consider this every day when the pre-season begins subsequent yr with Inter [Miami] and see if I can actually be 100%, if I might be helpful to the group, to the choice, after which decide.”
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