MIAMI — Lionel Messi will have another close friend and longtime teammate by his side for the remainder of this Inter Miami season and beyond.

As the Miami Herald and other outlets reported last week, Rodrigo De Paul, Messi’s midfield mate on Argentina’s national team, is headed to Inter Miami from Spanish club Atletico Madrid on a four-year loan-to-buy deal.

The loan will run through 2025 with an option to make the transfer permanent through the 2029 MLS season..

The official announcement came from the club on Friday night. De Paul will be unveiled to the home fans during Saturday’s pregame at 7 p.m. at Chase Stadium prior to Inter Miami’s game against FC Cincinnati, which Messi and Jordi Alba will miss after being suspended by MLS for skipping the All-Star Game on Wednesday.

“What brings me to Inter Miami is the desire to compete, win titles, to write the pages in the club’s history,” De Paul said. “It’s a club that is shaping up to be great, to have a long history, so that many people follow this incredible team.”

De Paul, a World Cup champion and two-time Copa America winner, will join the squad and begin training with the team upon the receipt of his P-1 Visa and ITC.

Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas spent more than a week in Madrid in early July finalizing the deal, which includes a transfer/buyout fee in the $12 million to $15 million range, with potential for a higher fee if incentives are met.

De Paul is expected to make his Inter Miami debut during the Leagues Cup, which kicks off July 30 with a home game against Mexican club Atlas. The next two Leagues Cup games are against Necaxa Aug. 2 and Pumas Aug. 6, both at Chase Stadium.

“Assembling a team that inspires our fans to dream continues to be one of our primary aspirations, so we’re thrilled to sign a player of Rodrigo’s caliber,” Mas said. “He 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.

“Several of the best players in global fútbol have already chosen Inter Miami as their home, and Rodrigo joining our roster is another landmark as we continue on this journey to change the trajectory of the sport in this country and make our fans proud.”

Co-owner David Beckham added: “Rodrigo is a player I’ve admired for many years. As a leader he has brought so much to the teams he has played for — especially with his national team Argentina. He brings experience, passion and quality to our team and to our city. I’m excited to welcome another World Cup winning player not just to Inter Miami, but also to MLS.”

The move adds a top-tier 31-year-old central midfielder to the Miami roster as the team aims to compete for the Leagues Cup title and the MLS Cup after a disappointing first-round exit from the playoffs last season.

De Paul joined Atletico Madrid in 2021 from Udinese for a $41 million fee. His contract with the Spanish club expires in June 2026, but he decided to make the move to the United States now.

Nicknamed “El Motorcito” (Little Motor) for his tireless work rate, De Paul will get to train and work with Messi every day in the buildup to the 2026 World Cup, which is being hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.

He is a box-to-box midfielder who played a crucial role for Argentina in the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America. Over 11 seasons in Italy and Spain, De Paul has played 356 games, scored 45 goals and had 56 assists. He earned Copa América 2021 and 2024 Team of the Tournament honors, and most recently featured in the La Liga Team of the Season for the 2024-25 campaign.

De Paul began his career in the youth ranks at Racing Club in Argentina prior to being promoted to the first team and making his professional debut in February 2013. He went on to establish himself as a key player for Racing before leaving for Europe in 2014.

Fox Sports commentator Alexi Lalas believes De Paul is a perfect fit for Inter Miami and MLS.

“He is in his prime and the style in which he plays, I think will translate immediately to what Major League Soccer is,” Lalas said on his State of the Union podcast. “I’m not saying he’s crude or anything, but there is a ruggedness and a rawness to his game that is what makes him one of the greats in the world. I think it’s going to translate. I think it’s what Inter Miami needs.”

Lalas went on to praise Inter Miami owners Jorge and Jose Mas and Beckham for making “bold” moves to spend big and sign marquee players.

“I love that Inter Miami and Jorge Mas and David Beckham want to push the envelope,” Lalas said. “They want to do big things, and they should be given the ability to do that, Yes, within the rules.

“People are yelling and saying, ‘Oh, Inter Miami’s getting favorable treatment.’ Yeah. OK. If somebody wants to do something big that’s going to benefit the team, and it’s going to benefit the league, they are going to be given some leeway. And there’s nothing stopping you, whatever team it is — Columbus or Colorado or anybody else out there — from thinking big and doing big.

“Yes, there is an attraction to Messi. Yes, there is an attraction to someplace like Miami that maybe other teams don’t have. But if you want to spend big money and you want to do big, bold, dare I say it, arrogant things, I will support you, 100 percent.”

A charismatic player with a fashion flair, De Paul is a big fan of Beckham’s and emulated the English star’s hairdos, from the braids to the pulled-back half-ponytail to the hairband to the bleached blond look.

Like Beckham, whose wife Victoria was a singer with the Spice Girls, De Paul has a pop star girlfriend, Tini Stoessel, who is from Argentina and has a home in Miami.

De Paul did a stint with Spanish club Valencia from 2014-16, when Gary Neville was the coach there. Phil Neville, Gary’s brother and the former Inter Miami coach, was an assistant coach with Valencia at that time and has fond memories of De Paul.

“He was a very talented young player with great energy and enthusiasm to play football,” Neville told the Miami Herald. “He worked so hard every day, and you could tell he was going to have a really great career. He had an infectious personality in the locker room and was loved by all his teammates.”

Messi has the same type of telepathy with De Paul as he does with Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Alba. De Paul always knows where Messi is, provides delivery to the Argentine icon and takes on the role of enforcer/bodyguard when the two are on the field together.

Messi already has a professional bodyguard, Yassine Cheuko, and now he will have a second.

Suarez, 38, and Busquets, 37, have not renewed their contracts, which expire at the end of this season. Busquets will make $8.8 million this season, second-highest salary on the team behind Messi ($20.5 million), and Suarez makes $1.5 million.

Neither player has addressed his future, but if Suarez and/or Busquets retire at the end of the year, De Paul will fulfill the role of world-class midfielder and confidant for Messi.

MLS rules allow just three Designated Players with salaries exceeding the league maximum. Right now, those are Messi, Busquets and Alba, who recently signed a contract extension through 2027. Messi has not signed his contract extension yet, but negotiations have been ongoing for months, and the deal is expected to be completed soon.

Messi’s initial contract with Miami is valued at $150 million, with a large piece of that coming from equity in the club upon his retirement. He is expected to continue playing at least through 2026, the first season in Miami Freedom Park Stadium, which is under construction and scheduled to open early next year.

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