All 29 MLS clubs could chip in to bring Lionel Messi to America
Lionel Messi could be involved in one of the weirdest contracts in the history of football, if the Paris Saint-Germain forward leaves for MLS in the summer.
There's only a few months left of Messi's contract at PSG, meaning one of the world's greatest ever footballers could be a free agent for the second time in just a couple of years.
Despite the fans are at Parc des Princes not being happy with the 35-year-old recently, the club are still working on keeping him for next season.
They may have changed their stance after the World Cup winner was spotted not so subtly singing anti-France songs during the international break.
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If staying in France doesn't work out for him, then the seven time Ballon d'Or winner can always return to Barcelona, who he left PSG for.
His old club are said to only be willing to bring Messi back if he sticks to three conditions, including massively bringing his wages down.
Another option for him would be to go to America and play in MLS, and it was claimed he'd already agreed to join Inter Miami a few months ago, but that didn't end up being the case.
A move to America could mean the strangest transfer in football history, with SPORT claiming that a deal was mooted in February that would see all 29 teams in the league contributing to the forward's wages.
Every team would put forward a percentage of the wage, with Messi playing for one of the teams, presumably David Beckham's Miami being the obvious choice.
They would justify the idea on the basis that bringing the Argentina superstar across the Atlantic ocean would add a huge boost to every franchise in the league.
As well as bringing in extra revenue through ticket sales, the league would no doubt be able to boost the price of tv rights with the addition of Messi.
There would be questions however, about just how fair a league in which opponents are part paying a player's wages every week would be.
The forward would be rocking up to play rivals every weeks and if a defender injured him in a tackle they would also be harming their own club's investment.
Of course, it's all still a pipe dream, with Messi, like Cristiano Ronaldo before him, preferring to stay in Europe, not that it's how it panned out for the Portugal forward.
And, speaking of which, the PSG man could still join his rival in Saudi Arabia but the country would have to change its laws.
Topics: Football, USA, MLS, Transfers, Inter Miami, Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1
Ryan Sidle