“Messi cracked up” - When Sergio Aguero explained how Lionel Messi reacted to Inter Miami being rock bottom in MLS standings before transfer
Sergio Aguero once shared how Lionel Messi reacted to Inter Miami being at the bottom of the MLS standings before he joined the club in the summer of 2023. The Argentine shifted base to the United States as a free agent after an average two-year stint at Paris Saint-Germain from 2021 to 2023.
Before Messi joined the club, Inter Miami had not been doing well in the Eastern Conference of the MLS. They were at the bottom of the standings, with only 15 points off 16 games, due to suffering 11 defeats.
Speaking to ESPN in 2023, Messi's former teammate Sergio Aguero shared a hilarious discussion he had with the former after he confirmed his transfer. Aguero recalled (via GOAL):
"I spoke to Messi yesterday, I sent him a message with a screenshot of the Eastern Conference standings and I said: ‘Your team is behind! You have to move up to 8th/9th! Messi cracked up. He said, ‘We have to make the play-offs!’"
The Herons could not make it to the MLS Playoffs in the 2023-24 season due to their poor start in the campaign. However, Lionel Messi led them to win their first trophy in history with the 2023 Leagues Cup where they defeated Nashville SC 10-9 on penalties.
This season, Inter Miami currently sits atop the MLS Eastern Conference table with 62 points off 28 games. Apart from Messi, his former Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets also remained key to the Herons' massive transformation this season.
When Sergio Aguero refused to take the No. 10 shirt at Barcelona while hoping for a Lionel Messi return
In an interview with Mundo Deportiva a few months after Lionel Messi moved to Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain, Sergio Aguero recalled how Barcelona offered him Lionel Messi's iconic No. 10 shirt. However, Aguero refused, hoping his teammate would one day return to his boyhood club.
Aguero said:
"As soon as Leo left, the club offered me the no. 10 shirt, I told them no. Not because I didn’t want to use it, I was no. 10 for all my clubs. But I believed that Messi was going to return. I told them it’s someone else’s shirt."
Barcelona eventually gave the No. 10 to Ansu Fati as Sergio Aguero recalled:
"‘You’re the only one who can use it, you or Ansu,’ they told me. I told them to give it to Ansu Fati, for me the no. 10 belongs to Leo, if he’s not there, nobody should use it."
Despite signing a two-year deal in 2021, Sergio Aguero was unable to make an impact at Barcelona due to cardiac issues. The Argentine announced his retirement in December 2021 after recording one goal in five appearances for the Catalan giants.