Lionel Messi, the winner of the Ballon d’Or, is pushing owner David Beckham to sign another of the Argentine’s former Catalan allies, and the Barcelona reunion at Inter Miami is expected to continue.
Old friends Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba swiftly followed Lionel Messi to the Major League Soccer team, and the three of them turned around Inter Miami’s fortunes. When Messi joined the squad in July, they were at the bottom of the standings.
However, he helped the team win the Leagues Cup, its first trophy ever, and then made a desperate attempt to qualify for the MLS playoffs, which was eventually unsuccessful due to injuries.
There are two more men who know people at Barcelona. According to reports, Beckham and Miami have agreed to recruit 36-year-old former Liverpool player Luis Suarez when his contract with Brazilian team Gremio expires before the 2024 MLS season.
Sergi Roberto, the captain of the Barcelona team at the moment, is expected to leave Camp Nou at the end of the season and go to South Florida.
But Messi still wants more. According to El Gol Digital, Messi has pushed Beckham to try to sign Sevilla and Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic. The 35-year-old playmaker is coming to the end of his contract at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and the club wants him to take a wage cut, meaning it is likely his time in southern Spain is coming to an end.
The 106-cap Croatia international would offer immense experience to a callow Miami roster, outside of their handful of superstar names, and Barcelona fans would surely be heartened by yet another of their 2015 Champions League winners reuniting for a last dance in the United States.
Messi’s desire to play with Rakitic is intriguing considering it was widely reported during the Croatian’s time at Barca that he was not particularly close with neither Messi nor Suarez. Rakitic said after his exit in 2020: “My relationship with them was never one of close friends.
