Lionel Messi said that MLS must loosen its spending restrictions in order to become a top league in the world of soccer and said that he is hopeful that he will be physically able to contribute to Argentina at next summer’s World Cup.
In a rare interview with an American outlet, Messi sat down with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the interview, Messi was asked if he felt that soccer could become as popular in the US as American sports like football, baseball, and basketball. Messi said he thinks the sport could get there, but that teams need to have more freedom first.
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“Every team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants — without limitations or rules for players to bring them in,” Messi said. “I don’t think that today all teams in the United States, all clubs, have the power to do that, and I think that if they were given the freedom, many more important players would come and help the growth of the United States.”
MLS has operated for its entire existence with an arcane rulebook governing player signings, with the intent to control spending, promote competitive balance between teams, and in its earliest days, to prevent teams from bidding against each other for players. Many of the original rules that formed this structure have been done away with or modified, but MLS teams today still must approach roster-building strategically while navigating myriad rules and roster categories.
Each team in MLS is permitted up to three designated player (DP) spots, allowing them to acquire players like Messi, whom they may pay whatever they want while only counting against the salary cap at that season’s maximum annual salary ($743,750 in 2025). Teams may also “buy down” the cap hit of players using various forms of allocation money. The league’s U-22 initiatives provides financial incentives for teams to sign young players they can sell on later.
Discussions about modifying or jettisoning these rules altogether have circulated for years, but they have kicked into higher gear since Messi’s arrival and Inter Miami’s success on and off the field. Messi’s voice, then, will carry some weight – but the ultimate decision will come down to MLS owners.
Elsewhere in the interview, Messi said that he does intend to play in the 2026 World Cup with Argentina, while acknowledging that his age will be a factor.
“I would like to be there, to be well and be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there,” he said. “I’m going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter [Miami] and see if I can really be 100%, if I can be useful to the group, to the national team, and then make a decision.”
