Messi's Midfield Enforcer Joins Him in Miami
Inter Miami have strengthened their squad with the acquisition of Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul from Atlético Madrid, reuniting the World Cup-winning engine with his longtime teammate and friend, Lionel Messi.
De Paul, 31, joins the MLS side on loan through the 2025 season, with an option to buy that could extend his stay until 2029. Despite his pedigree, he will not occupy a designated player spot on the roster.
The move adds another chapter to the Messi era at Inter Miami, bringing in one of his most trusted allies from Argentina's 2022 and 2024 Copa América and World Cup-winning squads. De Paul was widely regarded as Messi's midfield bodyguard, shielding the legend on the pitch while driving the team forward with relentless energy.
'Rodrigo is a winner who has conquered the world stage. His ambitions match ours at Inter Miami, and we are hungry to achieve these goals together,' said club co-owner Jorge Mas.
With nearly 500 professional matches under his belt across spells with Racing Club, Valencia, Udinese, and Atlético Madrid, De Paul arrives with a wealth of experience—57 goals, 74 assists, and 78 international caps.
'He brings experience, passion and quality to our team and to our city,' said co-owner David Beckham. 'I'm excited to welcome another World Cup-winning player not just to Inter Miami, but also to MLS.'
For De Paul, the move is about ambition as well as reunion: 'What brings me to Inter Miami is the desire to compete, win titles, to write the pages in the club's history,' he said.
With Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and now De Paul in the squad, Inter Miami's Argentinian-Catalan core continues to grow, signaling the club's mission to become a global force in football.
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