Lionel Messi has been suffering from an injury that has kept him sidelined for the last few weeks. He has been included in Argentina’s squad for the next few matches this month. However, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has not given any update on whether Messi will play in those matches. Inter Miami will play a match in the meantime. Their season ends on 21st October. Depending on whether Messi will be loaned in the winter transfer window, it also remains a question whether Messi will play when the 2024 MLS season starts.
Lionel Messi sustained an injury during Argentina’s international duties last month. He played their first match against Ecuador. However, due to the injury, he missed the next one against Bolivia. Since then, Messi has only appeared in two MLS matches for Inter Miami. In both matches, he came as a substitute and played for a little more than 30 minutes. His latest appearance was in Inter Miami’s most recent match against FC Cincinnati. Hence, there is a chance that he could play in Argentina’s next two matches this month.
Argentina’s next two matches are against Paraguay on 13th October at home and against Peru on 18th October on the road. Inter Miami will play against Charlotte on 19th October which Messi could miss. Miami will play the same opponents 3 days later. Miami have already failed to qualify for the MLS play-offs. Hence, the rest of these two matches are unimportant for them. They could decide to rest Messi thinking ahead to the next season. However, the coach is considering these matches as preparation for next season.
When asked about it, Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino said, “Yes, we have two games left, but the work begins now for next season. We made good roster moves and progress over the summer, and we have to be very precise over the next few months about how we will approach next season.” Hence, even if they don’t start Messi, he could still come in as a substitute. However, considering there will be a long break till the MLS next season begins, Messi could still be loaned out during the winter transfer window.
There have been several rumours that Messi could be loaned to Barcelona till Inter Miami’s season starts next February. However, the chances of that happening are less to none. Messi joined Miami in July and played in a gap of 3-4 days continuously till early September. While many doubted that soon fatigue would set in, it was actually a leg injury that saw him get benched for a few matches consecutively. His impact was undoubtedly massive which saw Miami win their first-ever trophy.
Messi played on a regular basis for full 90 minutes and helped Miami win the Leagues Cup. Miami also needed to win almost all of their MLS matches to qualify for the play-offs. However, Messi had to be benched due to his injury and it saw Miami fall behind in terms of performance. They kept dropping points and failed to qualify for the play-offs. Coach Martino will start planning to lift the cup next season. Hence, he will have big plans for his star player from the start of the season.
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