‘Only Thing Missing’—Lionel Messi Urged to Consider Transfer After Argentina Retirement
Lionel Messi is no longer an Argentina player. He still has two years left on his contract with Inter Miami, but what of a decades-long dream to sign with hometown team Newell’s Old Boys before he quits professional soccer once and for all?
Argentina bade farewell to Messi in Buenos Aires this week, a sold-out friendly against Benin in Buenos Aires that was far more significant than the hastily booked opponent might suggest.
His No. 10 shirt will soon become someone else’s and Messi’s sole focus will be on Inter Miami’s ambitions in Major League Soccer and beyond. No MLS team has won back-to-back championships since the LA Galaxy in 2011 and 2012, but the Herons are in prime position to make the 2026 playoffs in pursuit of retaining last season’s MLS Cup.
Messi is committed to Miami and appears happy with how things are going. He will turn 41 in 2028 when his contract expires. Most players would be long retired by then, but Messi has never been normal. His game has never been built on stamina, but explosive bursts in moments that has surely helped him play to a high level past usual retirement age.
Even aged 41, signing with Newell’s in the future doesn’t seem unrealistic.
Signing With Newell’s Old Boys Would Realize ‘Childhood Dream’
Messi said during a 2019 interview with FIFA that it remains a “childhood dream” to “play in the Newell’s shirt.” Still with Barcelona at the time, he admitted not knowing whether it would be possible and explaining that what’s best for his children comes first.
He joined the youth ranks of the club from his home city of Rosario in 1995 and spent five years there before his life changed forever with a 2000 transfer to Barcelona’s La Masia, aged 13.
Messi has therefore never played pro club soccer in his own country, while heading back to Argentina also opens up the Copa Libertadores, which CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez is desperate to see him be a part of.
“There is nothing that compares to it. It is unique, and it is something he deserves to play in. If I were a club president, I would do everything possible to bring him here,” Domínguez told reporters inside Estadio Monumental after Messi’s farewell.
Copa Libertadores Challenge Laid Down
