CELEBRITY
Messi puts luxurious £5.7m Miami penthouse on sale
Lionel Messi has cast his potential future transfer to David Beckham’s MLS franchise, Inter Miami, into doubt after putting his luxury penthouse in the Florida city up for sale.
Having dominated world football for much of the past two decades, Lionel Messi is already trying his hand at the game of real estate.
The 34-year-old has put his luxurious Miami penthouse up for sale for a cool asking price of £5.7million, despite only purchasing the condo seven months ago when he was still a Barcelona player.
That could be bad news for supporters of David Beckham’sMajor League Soccer franchise, Inter Miami, who are hoping Messi heads to Florida for a swan song before retiring.
However, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner still owns a property down the road, in the downtown Porsche Design Tower, which he purchased in 2019.
Messi’s other penthouse is back on the market, though, after the Paris Saint-Germain superstar opted to put it up for sale, according to AS.
Located in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, the condo has an ocean view and is situated roughly 10 miles away from the famous Miami Beach.
Messi purchased the entire ninth floor in April, boasting four bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, 2,100 square feet of terrace space and a 1,000-bottle wine cooler included.
The Barca legend even has his own brand of wine, a premium Malbec which is aptly named L10.
Whoever takes up the property will be able to enjoy an outdoor swimming pool, looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean.
Nevertheless, they could still end up living in the same city as Messi, whom Beckham is keen to bring stateside.
Mirror Footballexclusively revealed in August that Beckham had already held talks with the club regarding a move.
There the Argentina captain would link up with compatriot Gonzalo Higuain, who told ESPN in September: “I don’t want to get in trouble, I don’t know about Leo in Miami.
“He signed for two years with PSG… The club wants it, we’ll see.”
Reports have also indicated that club president Beckham will try to lure Messi to Florida by signing his good friend and ex-Barcelona team-mate, Luis Suarez.
Co-owner Jorge Mas has discussed the possibility of signing the forward up, revealing he is “optimistic” that “arguably the best player of all-time” will don Inter’s black and pink shirt one day.
“I think it will complete the legacy of the greatest player in our generation and will meet with the ambitions of the owners of Inter Miami to build a world-class team,” Mas said in an interview with the Miami Herald.
“David and I have been working really hard, we have aspirations of bringing the best players here and Messi is a generational player, arguably the best player of all time.”
A spanner in the works is that Messi has previously laid out plans to represent beloved Argentine outfit Newell’s Old Boys before retirement, although that was when he also claimed that he would never play for another European side.
Beckham, who gave the MLS an unprecedented boost in 2007 when he signed for LA Galaxy, reportedly hopes to have the superstar in Miami by 2023.
For now, Messi is contracted to PSG, the club which the former Manchester United midfielder emotionally hung up his boots at in 2013.
Now in the boardroom rather than on the pitch, Beckham’s job is to convince players to join his project, currently managed by ex-United team-mate Phil Neville.
However, the heat is on Neville after just two wins from Inter’s last 10 games which has seen them fail to make the play-offs this season.
But it seems Beckham’s role in recruitment is an easier one than being the boss, telling ESPN: “To be honest it’s not a difficult pitch, you just say Miami and they are like “okay!”
“When I chose Miami, there were a couple of reasons. It’s a great city, we have got a great fanbase but I also understand there is great talent in Miami and south Florida and I think we have a real opportunity.
“Miami as a city has that pull on players that have been playing in Europe and that are big stars and we have proved that already with Blaise [Matuidi] and Gonzalo.
-Mirror
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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