Lionel Messi’s next head coach will be someone very familiar to him.
Leading soccer reporter Fabrizio Romano revealed Friday that Argentinian soccer great Javier Mascherano will be the next head coach of Inter Miami, the MLS team that Messi is currently with. Romano adds that Mascherano’s contract with Inter Miami will run for the next three years.
A former defensive midfielder, the 40-year-old Mascherano had been coaching Argentina’s under-20 national team since 2021 and also coached Argentina at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Mascherano is known as well for his very rich history with the all-time soccer legend Messi. The two were teammates for Spanish powerhouse club F.C. Barcelona from 2010-18, winning five league championships and two UEFA Champions League titles together. On top of that, Mascherano and Messi used to be teammates on Argentina’s national team for many years and are the two most capped players in the country’s history.
As for Inter Miami, they just completed a moderately successful season in which they won the MLS Supporters’ Shield (for having the best regular season record) but lost in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. Their previous head coach, Gerardo Martino, just announced earlier this week that he was stepping down for personal reasons.
Messi, who just completed his second season with the American club, is only under contract at Inter Miami for one more year. But club managing owner Jorge Mas was quoted this week as saying that he expects Messi to still be with the team through 2026 when Inter Miami moves to a new stadium.
Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas on Leo Messi’s contract expiring in 2025: “I fully expect to see Messi playing in our new stadium in 2026”. pic.twitter.com/ikxJYenJNF
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 22, 2024
The 37-year-old Messi already has had several former Barcelona teammates join him at Inter Miami. With another one in Mascherano now signing on as their head coach, Messi has one more reason to stick around in South Beach.
