Inter Miami CF president, Jorge Mas, has stated that bringing superstar, Lionel Messi to the American Major League Soccer club took three years of negotiations.

Messi confirmed this month that he will join Inter Miami as a free agent following his two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi, 36, planned returning to Barcelona, which he left in 2021 owing largely to its financial crisis. He also turned down a lucrative agreement from Saudi Arabia’s PIF fund to join Al-Hilal.

Mas has now revealed how the negotiations occured.

“In 2019 [when Messi was still at Barcelona], we started thinking about how we could bring him,” Mas told Spanish newspaper El Pais via ABC News.

“I spent three years on it, a year-and-a-half [working] very intensely. There were many conversations with [Messi’s father and agent] Jorge. [Inter Miami co-owner] David [Beckham] talked to Leo, only about football issues, because he was a player.”

Messi, will reportedly sign a contract extension with Inter Miami until December 2025, with a 2026 option year. While Mas claimed the striker will earn “between £50 million and $60 million per year.”