Which country searched Inter Miami the most after Lionel Messi transfer? Surprising Google results emerge
Lionel Messi announced his decision to join Inter Miami on Wednesday, June 7, making fans search for the MLS club on Google. Fans worldwide were trying to find more information on the Argentine's new club as they became the most searched term on Google Trends.
As per a report by MLS writer Favian Renkel, fans from Bangladesh searched the most for Inter Miami. The south Asian country scored 100 on Google Trends' most common search last week, while Messi's home country Argentina scored just 84, coming in second.
Nepal with 82, and Haiti with 81 came in third and fourth for the countries with the most searches for Inter Miami, while Ivory Coast were fifth with 73. Iraq, Yemen, Congo, Honduras, and Nicaragua completed the top 10.
Why did Lionel Messi pick Inter Miami?
Lionel Messi commented that he wanted to leave Europe if a return to Barcelona was not happening. He did not want to wait for the Catalan side to get a deal done, and opted to join Inter Miami.
Speaking to SPORT, he said:
"I made the decision that I’m going to go to Miami. I still haven’t closed it 100%. I’m still missing a few things, but we decided to go ahead."
When quizzed about Barcelona, the Argentine was quick to claim that he was excited about a return but it was not possible at the moment. He said:
“If the Barcelona thing didn’t work out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more about my family. I really wanted, I was very excited to be able to return [to Barcelona], but after having experienced what I experienced and the exit I had, I did not want to be in the same situation again – waiting to see what was going to happen."
Lionel Messi added that he did not want players to be sold nor see them take salary cuts to facilitate his return to the club. He continued:
“I heard that they had to sell players or lower players’ salaries and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that, nor take charge of obtaining something that had to do with all that. If it had been a matter of money I would have gone to Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. It seemed like a lot of money to me and the truth is that my decision was for the other side and not for money.”
Marca have reported that Al Hilal tabled a world-record €500 million per season offer, but it was rejected by Lionel Messi.