Messi fails with Inter Miami transfer request after Ronaldo comments

Cristiano Ronaldo may have been proven correct about Major League Soccer after Lionel Messi and Inter Miami suffered a transfer blow at the hands of the Saudi Pro League.

Messi has been joined by a handful of former Barcelona teammates since joining David Beckham's franchise, being reunited with Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, and he urged the club's owner to make a move for another of his old allies in Catalunya.

According to El Gol Digital ahead of the January transfer window, Messi urged Inter Miami to try to sign 106-cap Croatia international Ivan Rakitic with his contract at Sevilla coming to an end. The 35-year-old played more than 200 games for Barca, winning four La Liga titles, four Copa del Reys and the Champions League during his six-season stay at Camp Nou.

Rakitic returned to Sevilla – the club he played for before signing for Barcelona – in 2020, and his four-season stay included the Europa League title in 2023. But his time at the club came to an end shortly before the end of his contract in the summer after more than 300 appearances.

Sevilla announced on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached for Rakitic to join Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Shabab, becoming the latest high-profile European player to sign a money-spinning deal in the Middle East. He joins the club in 11th place in the table, four points clear of the relegation zone.

"Everyone at the club would like to thank Ivan Rakitic, one of the most decorated and loved players in our history, for all his effort and dedication over the years, and wish him every success in the future," Sevilla said in a statement.

Rakitic's move is the latest example of MLS being gazumped by the state-funded Saudi Pro League. Although the American-based league was able to structure an enormous deal backed by sponsors Apple and Adidas to help fund Messi's move to Miami, the league cannot compete generally with the financial might of the Saudis.

Ronaldo, Messi's long-time rival and the face of the Saudi Pro League since joining Al-Nassr last year, has long believed the level of football in Saudi Arabia is stronger than in the US. “The Saudi league is better than MLS,” Ronaldo said last summer. "Now all the players are coming here. In one year, more top players will come to Saudi Arabia.”

Those comments were vindicated when Messi and his Inter Miami teammates were beaten 4-3 by Saudi league leaders Al-Hilal on Monday in a preseason friendly. Suarez and Messi were on the scoresheet for Gerardo "Tata" Martino's team, but goals from former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and Barcelona transfer flop Malcolm were enough to give the hosts victory in Riyadh.

Inter Miami return to the same venue on Thursday when they face Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in their final game of the Saudi Arabia leg of their preseason tour. The game is being billed as "The Last Dance", with the two leading players of their generation potentially gracing the same field together for the final time before their inevitable retirements in the coming years.