Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Inter Miami, MLS, Lionel Messi
Jack Kenmare
A host of world-renowned artists, including Shakira and Bad Bunny, are being lined up to perform at Lionel Messi’s official presentation on Sunday, according to reports.
Messi will be presented as an Inter Miami at the DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday, July 16, with the event kicking off at 8pm ET on Sunday [1am BST on Monday].
In a statement, the MLS club mention that the event, which is likely to be broadcast during half-time of the Gold Cup final, will include “exciting entertainment, speeches on the pitch and more”.
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So what does that mean? Well, podcast host Franco Panizo claims Shakira, Bad Bunny and Maluma are some of the artists Inter Miami are trying to line up for the highly-anticipated presentation.
Shakira, who split from longtime boyfriend Gerard Pique last year, is arguably the most well-known on that list but Colombian artist Maluma has a pretty impressive 63 million followers on Instagram.
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, known for featuring on songs like “Diles”, “Soy Peor” and “I Like It”, could also make an appearance in Fort Lauderdale this weekend.
In addition to Messi's arrival, the Argentine could be joined at the presentation by former Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets, who was an announced as an Inter Miami player last month.
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Busquets and Messi, who spent 13 seasons together at the Nou Camp from 2008 to 2021, will also be reunited alongside another former teammate, Jordi Alba.
Alba, however, could miss this weekend's event in Florida because his wife Romarey Ventura is set to give birth to their third child soon.
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Speaking about his decision to join the MLS club, Messi said: "After winning the World Cup and not being able to return to Barcelona, it was my turn to go to the league of the United States to live football in another way and to enjoy the day-to-day more.
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"Obviously, with the same responsibility and desire to play well and do things well as always. But in a calmer way."
If you want to tune in to watch Messi's presentation, then the entire program will be aired on the MLS Season Pass app on Apple, according to The Athletic.