A representative of Lionel Messi has insisted that the Paris Saint-Germain attacker has not agreed a deal to join MLS outfit Inter Miami in 2023.
On Sunday evening, various reports claimed that the Argentina international was on the verge of coming to an agreement with the North American side over a move next year.
Messi's contract with PSG is due to expire at the end of June, and a switch to the MLS is seemingly one of a number of options on the table for the 35-year-old, who is currently representing his country at the World Cup.
However, Marcelo Mendez, who is a representative of the South American, has said that rumours of an agreed a deal with Inter Miami are wide of the mark.
"It's false, it's fake news," Mendez told CNN. "There is no negotiation for Lionel to join Inter Miami next season."
© Reuters
According to Sky Sports News, Messi is expected to turn down interest from the MLS side, with the attacker not yet ready to make the move away from European football.
The report claims that the Argentine wants to spend at least one more season in Europe, and he could then decide to move to America in the summer of 2024.
Messi will allegedly not be making a decision on his future until after the World Cup, although remaining at PSG is believed to be his first choice.
Barcelona are also believed to be in the mix to re-sign their former player, who left the Catalan giants on a free transfer in the summer of 2021 due to their financial problems.
Messi has been in strong form for PSG during the 2022-23 campaign, scoring seven goals and registering 10 assists in 13 Ligue 1 games, in addition to contributing four goals and four assists in five outings in the group stage of the Champions League.
© Reuters
In total, the experienced forward has represented the French giants on 53 occasions in all competitions since his arrival, scoring 23 goals and contributing 29 assists.
Messi, who has scored in both of Argentina's World Cup games against Saudi Arabia and Mexico in Qatar, recently hinted that he would sign a new deal with PSG.
"I like Paris a lot more now, I have discovered the city and I find it magnificent," Le Parisien quotes Messi as saying. "In the first year, there was a huge change.
"Things happened very suddenly, it was not my objective to leave Barcelona, and everything about it was very abrupt. After this long period and the difficult times, I am happy to live where I live, and my family and I are enjoying Paris.
© Reuters
"It was hard at the start, we had stayed all our lives in the same place, I had never moved, and I did not know what it was like to leave.
"We did not expect this, it happened very quickly, and we had to leave Barcelona overnight. We found ourselves in a new environment.
"We had our life in Barcelona, our friends, our habits, and we found ourselves in a different place, with another language, another football, another climate, I suffered a lot from that. It was hard. But, today, I enjoy everything including football."
Messi scored 672 goals and registered 303 assists in 778 appearances for Barcelona before leaving Camp Nou in a move that sent shockwaves around the world of football.
