What level is Messi's new team at?

Inter Miami's Opta Power Ranking index is 69.3 - much lower than Cristiano Ronaldo's club Al Nassr (80.7) and only slightly better than Hanoi FC (66.7).

According to the order of clubs in the world of Opta statistics on June 7, Inter Miami has an index of 69.3 - ranked 865 globally. In the past seven days, they have dropped 127 places by losing three games in a row. Of the 29 clubs in the MLS, David Beckham's team is only 27th, ahead of DC United and Toronto.

Messi (left) accepted David Beckham's offer to join Inter Miami on June 7, 2023. Photo: US Sun

Opta lists professional or semi-professional tournaments in 183 FIFA countries, a total of 413 domestic level tournaments. This data firm uses the Power Rankings index to compare clubs around the world, to assess the strength of the teams even though they have never met. Teams are scored from 0 to 100 based on two main methods: Elo coefficient and league and league quality. The strongest team gets 100 points, currently Man City.

Based on this index, it can be seen that the MLS league has the same level of qualification as the English first class (EFL Championship). The strongest team in the US is Philadelphia Union with an index of 78.0, equivalent to the rookie of the Premier League next season Sheffield United. The weakest team in MLS Toronto has an index of 68.6, similar to Birmingham in the bottom group of the English first division.

Before accepting the offer to join Miami, Messi turned down an offer from Al Hilal in the Saudi League. Al Hilal's stats are currently 80.9, higher than any other team in the MLS. Saudi clubs like Al Ittihad (82.8) or Al Nassr (80.7) are also rated higher than the MLS champion.

The average of the 29 MLS teams is 71.8, lower than the Saudi League's average of 72.8.

However, expertise is probably not the most important reason why Messi accepted to join MLS . One key thing is that he will receive an opportunity to buy back shares of an MLS team after he retires, just like Beckham did with Inter Miami.

While MLS started in 1998, Miami founded 20 years later in a project to scale up the league. Beckham is one of the three major shareholders of the team, alongside billionaire father and son Jorge Mas and Jose Mas.

To become a shareholder of the team, Beckham spent $ 25 million in 2021. He also spent part of the team's $ 60 million investment to build a training and accommodation complex called Florida Blue, more than 4,600 wide. square meter and located close to the main football field of DRV PNK. This stadium has 19,100 seats for spectators, inaugurated in 2020, used for many international matches of the US team.

Inter Miami played its first season in MLS in 2020, with famous players like midfielder Blaise Matuidi, striker Gonzalo Higuain or Lee Nguyen. At the end of that season, they finished 19th overall, out of 29 teams competing in the tournament.

David Beckham (centre) visits his old team PSG and Lionel Messi (left), Marco Verratti (right) on April 27, 2023. Photo: PSG

In the last two seasons, Miami's performance has been going downhill. This season, Matuidi and Higuain have retired, leaving the team at the bottom of the 16 clubs in the East region. Coach Phil Neville has just been sacked by Beckham after two years in charge, and the Miami squad is now without a star player.

President Beckham is currently targeting the appointment of coach Tata Martino, Messi 's former teacher at Barca and the Argentina team in 2013-2016. He also has experience working in the US, helping Atlanta United win the 2018 MLS Cup. In addition, Miami also wants to sign Messi's former teammates such as defender Jordi Alba, midfielder Sergio Busquets or striker Luis Suarez .

"Miami's dream is to sign Messi, so Beckham and I have worked hard towards this goal," said Jose Mas in 2021. "Messi is the best player of all time, and suits the thirst. expectations of team owners about building a world-class team".

Just six hours since the first news of Messi's acceptance to Miami, the team's Instagram account has more than doubled its followers, to nearly two million. Under the team's recent posts, tens of thousands of comments came in a row demanding the announcement of Messi. These numbers may even increase many times when the team makes an official announcement.

Miami believes that signing Messi is the first step for the team towards its goal of reaching the world, even though Messi's name is far beyond the league. While in office, Neville once said: "Messi is bigger than Inter Miami, bigger than MLS. This could be the biggest signing in league history, there's no denying it."

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