“A competitive beast” - Lionel Messi already focused on US Open Cup semi-final, says Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas

Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas has heaped praise on Lionel Messi after their Leagues Cup triumph. He added that the Argentine was already focused on their US Open Cup semi-final, where they take on FC Cincinnati on Wednesday (23 August).

Messi has been in top form since joining Inter Miami earlier this summer. He has already scored 10 goals for the club in seven matches and helped them win the Leagues Cup on Saturday night (19 August).

Speaking to the media after the match, Mas labled Messi as a competitive beast. He added that the Argentine was thinking about the next game where they take on FC Cincinnati in the US Open Cup semifinal. He said: (via journalist Roy Nemer)

"Lionel (Messi) is already focused on Wednesday's US Open Cup semi final. He's a competitive beast."

Lionel Messi finished the League Cup campaign as the top scorer and picked up the best player of the tournament award too.

Inter Miami worked for three years to get Lionel Messi

Jorge Mas revealed to Spanish newspaper El Pais earlier this summer that they have been working on getting Lionel Messi since 2019. He added that they were in talks with the Argentine from his time at Barcelona and finally got it done in May 2023.

He was quoted by ESPN as saying:

"In 2019 [when Messi was still at Barcelona], we started thinking about how we could bring him. I spent three years on it, a year-and-a-half [working] very intensely. There were many conversations with [Messi's father and agent] Jorge. [Inter Miami co-owner] David [Beckham] talked to Leo, only about football issues, because he was a player."

He added:

"I saw it as done at the end of May. I didn't want him to feel under pressure. We had spoken in Barcelona, Miami, Rosario, Doha ... I spent the whole World Cup in Qatar, watching Argentina. The Apple contract was very important to close the deal."

Mas and Co. managed to add more firepower to the Inter Miami squad with the addition of two of Messi's closest friends in football - Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. They were also looking to sign Luis Suarez and Angel Di Maria, but could not get the deal done. Mas spoke on the plans and added:

"He [Suarez] is under contract, he has a clause, and I don't know if this will materialise. We have also spoken to Di Maria but it seems that he is about to sign for another team."

Lionel Messi is expected to make his MLS debut next week (August 26) when Inter Miami travel to face New York Red Bulls.