Lionel Messi credited for 'fun' reunion with Luis Suarez & ex-Barcelona team-mates that shows 'how far MLS has come' as Don Garber makes prediction for Inter Miami's 2024 season

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner made his way to America in the summer of 2023. He was followed to Florida by former Camp Nou team-mates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. They have since been joined in the Sunshine State by veteran Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez.

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MLS commissioner Don Garber considers those deals to be a good thing, telling ESPN of the progress being made in the U.S. game: “It's important to remind ourselves and everybody else that having arguably the best player of all time in our league says a lot about where MLS is, and how far it's come over the years. And I don't think Miami is stopping, right? Signing Luis Suárez and putting together a bunch of guys that Leo has played with for so many years, I think is fun. It's exciting. And I think we're going to see just more energy, and lots more attention in Year 2. But the league has been signing really big-name international players for many, many years, and we're going to continue to do that. But as importantly, focus as much as we can on not just the top of the roster and the players that will bring us attention around the world, but also young players both here in the U.S. and players from overseas. And I think probably for the first time, I think the story this year is about how some of the great young players, particularly from South America, are choosing MLS. You know, I [was] told a stat, 15 of the players in Olympic qualifying in South America are playing in MLS, and I think you're going to see more and more focus on our teams to sign young players and sign under-22 players. And then at the same time, sign guys like [Hugo] Lloris and [Emil] Forsberg and any other player that we think could round out sort of what kind of league we want to be.”

There have been calls for MLS to address current salary cap rules, allowing more marquee signings to be made, but Garber added on that long-running debate: “Every year we work to determine whether or not the roster rules we have are delivering what we need to deliver in order to grow our fan base, right? And I think Messi comes into the league and then all of a sudden there's this buzz that, 'OK, now maybe we're going to just dramatically change our roster rules.' Leo came in within our roster rules and there's no shortage of opportunity for other teams to do what Miami did, or to find whatever player makes sense for them in their local market. All that being said, we have evolved in sometimes really big ways and sometimes small ways, [but] our roster rules [change] every single year. And we will continue to look at that to ensure that we're managing our broad league-wide strategy to become more competitive in the regional and global landscape, but at the same time do it within practical and rational means.”

Messi will be the star attraction when the new MLS campaign gets underway on Wednesday, with Inter Miami preparing to host Real Salt Lake in a season-opener at DRV PNK Stadium. The Herons have four trophies to compete for in 2024, but a number of domestic and continental rivals are ready to block their path.