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10/23 10:08 CDT Lionel Messi and Inter Miami finally complete his new contract. He'll remain with the club in 2026 Lionel Messi and Inter Miami finally complete his new contract. He'll remain with the club in 2026 By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) --- Lionel Messi has finally agreed to a new contract with Inter Miami, a deal that required several months to complete and ensures that the sport's biggest icon will be with the Major League Soccer club for its planned move into a new stadium next year. The deal was announced Thursday, one day before Inter Miami's playoff opener against Nashville. Messi's team --- the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference --- will play host to Game 1 of that best-of-three series on Friday night. Terms were not immediately revealed, though Inter Miami had been pushing for a deal that would last into 2027 or 2028 --- and the notion of Messi playing two or three more seasons would certainly serve as a boost to ticket sales at the stadium the team has been building near Miami International Airport. The team has been selling ticket packages and taking deposits on seats in the new park for more than a year, all with the assumption that Messi would remain part of the franchise. Messi's decision to stay in Miami is big for both the club and for MLS. He was the league's MVP last season and is the overwhelming choice to win the award again this year, which would make him only the second two-time winner in league history and the first to win it in back-to-back years. Preki won the MVP award in 1997 and 2003. "To enjoy him, watching him enjoy doing the things he is doing, he's very, very competitive and he tries to translate that to the team," Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said Thursday. "The best way to help him is trying to do the right things ... he has to be comfortable on the pitch. He's comfortable when things are working in the right way. "With him, when we do things the right way, we'll have many chances to have success." ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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