Lionel Messi has been warned that signing Inter Miami will mark the end of his time as an elite footballer.
The Argentine is currently taking part in the 2022 World Cup with his country, and it has been reported that he is close to sealing a move to Phil Neville’s MLS side for next season.
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Messi has already scored twice at the World Cup and is expected to leave PSG next summer
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But Jordan doesn’t think MLS is the right move for Messi as he enters his twilight years
Messi has scored twice in the World Cup so far, once in their first defeat against Saudi Arabia on the spot and then against Mexico.
And the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner already has plenty of clubs vying for his signature ahead of next season, with his contract at Paris Saint-Germain expiring at the end of the current campaign.
But Jordan thinks Messi has shown he’s not as good as he was in Qatar, and doesn’t think moving to the US to be managed by Neville will bring him the twilight years that he did. he desires.
“Argentina were presented as one of the favorites for this tournament,” he said on Monday’s White and Jordan show.
“Nothing tells us in view of their recent performances – even if they were under pressure against the Mexicans – that they are an essential bet to win this World Cup.
“You see – something very similar to what happened in 1986 – their prison release card was Diego Maradona.
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PSG and Barca also want Messi at their clubs next season
“The difference between these two tournaments is that Maradona was 26 when he took Argentina to the 1986 World Cup final.
“Lionel Messi is 35 and we’re starting to see – despite being a hard-hitting player and having all the gifts he’s always had – that this 35-year-old is starting to decline.”
He continued, “It then moves on to the domestic argument. With all due respect to Paris Saint-Germain, I never considered the French league to be a particularly competitive league.
“So I think Messi landing there and achieving things there was no surprise.
Neville narrowly guided the team into the MLS play-offs for the first time – but Jordan doesn’t think he’s the right person to handle Messi
“But when he makes that decision to reach the dizzying heights of being managed by Phil Neville, you have to consider that’s probably the end of Lionel Messi’s true competitive nature playing in elite football.”
If Messi moves to MLS and plays under the former Lionesses boss, he’ll be the club’s highest-paid player – and that’s without seeing how well he’s doing at the World Cup.
Speaking to Spanish media last year, the star said: “I would love to play in the United States one day; it’s always been one of my dreams.
However, talkSPORT’s European football reporter Julien Laurens says it’s uncertain whether Messi will sign for Inter Miami.
“At the moment he is only thinking about the World Cup,” he told talkSPORT Breakfast on Monday, stressing that he had three possible options. “First, there remains [at PSG] a little longer, taking more money, maybe winning another Champions League.
“The second is to go to Inter Miami in MLS, where he has a house, he goes on vacation there, he really likes Miami. Or, coming back to Barcelona, which of the three is the least likely.
“I think he knows it’s not right to go back to his ex.”
