Major League Soccer has welcomed some huge names throughout its existence - David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, to name just a few.
But Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami is on another level, rivalling when the late, great Pele joined the NASL revolution by signing for New York Cosmos in the 1970s.
Messi’s presence in Miami will send the club global and promises to put more eyes on MLS than ever before. His shirt, just like it was at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, will immediately be one of the most popular that there is.
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Shirt numbers Lionel Messi could wear at Inter Miami
Messi is most famous for his number 10 shirt. He wore the jersey at 13 years for Barcelona, from 2008 following the departure of Ronaldinho until he left the club himself in 2021.
Upon joining PSG, the number 10 was already occupied by another superstar, Neymar. Instead, Messi was granted special permission to wear 30, a shirt usually reserved for goalkeepers in France. It was the shirt number that he had first worn when he broke into the Barcelona first-team in 2004.
The only other number that Messi has worn in his senior club career to date is 19, which he took at Barcelona in 2005 ahead of his second season. He retained it for three years until switching to 10.
Messi has also consistently worn numebr 10 at international level for Argentina since 2008, most notably when he lifted the 2022 World Cup as captain last year. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner inherited the jersey from Juan Roman Riquelme, having previously worn a mixture of 18 and 19 for his country, as well as number 15 during the 2008 Olympics.
Realistically, 10 is part of the Messi brand and he has no reason to take any other shirt at Inter Miami because it was vacated at the end of last year when Gonzalo Higuain retired. It has remained free since then, now nearing the halfway through the 2023 MLS season
The MLS transfer deadline passed in late April, but the upcoming mid-season transfer window will open for new signings from 5 July. Although is set to be unveiled imminently, he won't be eligible to play until then, which perhaps suits him coming off the back of a full season in Europe.
This article was originally published on 90min as Shirt numbers Lionel Messi could wear at Inter Miami.
