Lionel Messi could be a “major problem” in the MLS
Lionel Messi ended his European chapter by joining Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS). It is considered the greatest transfer in MLS history. And to everyone’s surprise, the Argentine legend rolled back the years against Cruz Azul on his debut as he scored the match-winning free-kick in the game’s dying minutes. However, all is not well for the US-based league.
According to the reports from the Mirror, Messi doesn’t like playing on synthetic grass. As he is unwilling to take a competitive part on this surface, it has created a problem for the MLS owners.
This problem wasn’t encountered by Messi throughout his career in FC Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain (PSG). Through almost two decades with the Catalans, the Argentine didn’t play any La Liga opponents on synthetic grass. Moreover, he didn’t encounter any teams in Ligue 1. Hence, it is a problem for the MLS, where artificial parks has become a common theme.
According to the reports based in MLS, six franchises play their matches on turf instead of grass, i.e., New England Revolution, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, Charlotte FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Atlanta United. Out of these teams, three play in the Eastern Conference (New England, Charlotte, and Atlanta). Most importantly, Inter Miami have to play Charlotte and Atlanta before the end of the season.
This is a huge problem for David Beckham’s team, who thought that the addition of Messi would rejuvenate their team’s ambitions. Inter Miami currently sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Secondly, this is a huge blow for MLS in terms of commercial reasons. Messi has a huge fan following all over the world, and him not being in the side will also take away a huge number of viewers from the MLS.
