New Inter Miami CF signings Tadeo Allende, Gonzalo Luján and Telasco Segovia have said that the chance to play on the same team with Lionel Messi was an integral part of their respective decisions to join the Major League Soccer team this offseason.
“Well I would be playing with the best player in the world in my opinion. It was a great factor in my joining, but this is also a great club,” Segovia, who arrives at the club from Casa Pia on a four-year contract, told ESPN.
Allende, who joins the Herons from Celta Vigo on loan through the end of the 2025 season, admitted he never expected to share the field with Messi before Miami presented an offer.
“It influenced [my decision] a lot, it influenced a lot because also to learn from him and not only from him but from Sergio [Busquets], Jordi [Alba] and Luis [Suárez] who, as I said before, are highly competitive players who want to win everything and that requires us to live up to them. It is not easy but we have to achieve it and that will make us improve because we have to follow in their footsteps,” Allende told ESPN.
“When the proposal came to me, I was never going to imagine that I could get to play and share the field with him because I saw everything and I saw him in videos and he’s my idol as the idol of so many, but being on the field with him is a different thing, not only on the field, in the locker room, seeing him up close is different.”
Luján experienced a similar reaction when receiving that first phone call from new Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano before signing a two-year deal with the club.
“It was an incredible experience [to receive that phone call]. I didn’t doubt the decision for a second. Masche told me he was interested in me coming, and I was interested in coming,” Luján told ESPN.
“It was super important [the factor of playing with Messi], there are many players who are very great, successful and winners. It is a team that is seen a lot because Leo is there, he is very important. You can learn a lot of them, so I’m super happy. They received me very well, I am happy.”
Messi stands as an integral part of Inter Miami, on and off the pitch. Since joining in the summer of 2023, the Argentina forward has contributed 22 goals and 19 assists in 28 MLS appearances while also playing a crucial role in the team’s 2023 Leagues Cup title and 2024 Supporters’ Shield victory.
The three players serve as some of Mascherano’s first signings at the club, after being appointed manager in November 2024. The new coach craved depth in the roster as Inter Miami prepares to compete in four competitions throughout 2025 including the MLS regular season, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The campaign kicks off on Feb. 18 when the Herons travel to Kansas City to confront Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup. The team then faces a quick turnaround as the MLS season begins on Feb. 22 against New York City FC at Chase Stadium.
