INTER Miami have terminated the contract of one of their stars to help make room for Lionel Messi.
The Miami club beat Barcelona and Saudi Arabian sides to Messi’s signature by offering him a deal worth £830,000-a-week.
The wages will be partly paid for by third parties such as Apple, Adidas and the MLS.
But before Messi joins, the club have been forced to terminate the contract of one of their stars to make room for the World Cup winner.
The MLS rules dictate that each team can only have three ‘designated players’ which are stars that earn above the club’s salary cap.
And to make room for the former Barcelona forward, Inter Miami have terminated the contract of attacking midfielder Rodolfo Pizzaro.
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Pizzaro was one of three DPs alongside captain Gregore and forward Leonardo Campana.
According to Transfermarkt’s Manuel Veth, Pizzaro will join Greek side AEK Athens on a free transfer.
The 29-year-old played 15 times for Inter Miami this season, registering no goals and one assist.
Messi will arrive to a struggling Inter Miami team who sacked head coach Phil Neville due to poor results last month.
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Miami are currently rock bottom of the MLS table and sit 11 points off the league’s play-off places.
There is no relegation in the MLS so Messi will not have to worry about soon playing for a second tier side.
He is expected to make his debut for the club next week on July 21 when Miami play Mexican club Cruz Azul in the Leagues cup.
The Leagues cup sees the top MLS sides face off against their Mexican Liga MX counterparts.
There was speculation that Messi would play against Arsenal as part of the MLS all star team in a friendly on July 20.
However, MLS comissioner Don Garber confirmed that the two international picks in the all star side would be Kei Kamara and Mathieu Choiniere – therefore ruling Messi out of the game.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
