Former Manchester United forward Giuseppe Rossi has warned the MLS against signing Neymar after the Santos ace was recently linked with a move to join Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. Rossi believes the Brazilian won’t help improve the product from a footballing perspective, but that the MLS hierarchy won’t care due to the financial benefits.
Major League Soccer (MLS) has grown massively over the past decade, signing top European superstars including Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo, and Wayne Rooney. However, Inter Miami garnered global attention after signing Lionel Messi as a free agent in the summer of 2023.
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Since then, the Herons have further bolstered their squad, signing the likes of Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Rodrigo De Paul, and Casemiro. However, the MLS club are reportedly keen on signing Neymar at the end of the season to reunite the iconic ‘MSN’ trio, alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
However, Neymar has struggled with multiple long-term injuries over the past three years and has failed to display his world-class form at Santos. Rossi made his feelings clear on the former’s links with Inter Miami, telling GOAL:
“This is where MLS are making mistakes, and they continue to make these mistakes. It’s great marketing, it is what it is, but what kind of product are you putting on the field? Bringing Neymar back to reunite him with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, what are you trying to become as a league?”
“If it’s to get to the level of the big boys out in Europe like the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and those competitions, you’re moving at a snail’s pace but MLS is very thirsty for clicks and views, and they don’t really care about the standard of the football itself.”
He added:
“Yes, they have made great strides, and well done to them for that. The valuations of the clubs are high and it’s a great business model but what about the football? Is that growing and moving forward? I don’t think so, and that’s something that has to change.”
“The problem is that the people in charge don’t really care. They only care about the valuations. That’s the problem when you put these billionaires in charge of a league. They’d love to see Neymar come to MLS and play with Messi again but it’s not going to grow MLS as a football league. That’s what I think.”
The former Brazil international’s contract with Santos is set to expire at the end of the year, paving the way for a potential move to Inter Miami.
“It would be great for him” – Giuseppe Rossi on whether Neymar can rediscover his form alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inter Miami amid transfer links
From the aforementioned interview, football pundit Giuseppe Rossi also provided his verdict on whether Neymar can rediscover his lost spark playing alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inter Miami. Rossi reckons the 34-year-old remains a ‘great’ player and could potentially make a good impact for the Herons.
Rossi stated:
“If Neymar could make the move to Miami, why not? It would be great for him, and he’s still a great player. He’s one of the best players of his generation and I think everybody would love to see him play, and that’s great for the fans and everything else.”
He continued:
“I just look at it another way because there are pros and cons to everything, and yes everybody wants to see Neymar but it does take away from the integrity of the products itself by making MLS into even more of a circus than a true football league.”
While Neymar has struggled for club and country in recent years, he established himself as one of the best players in the world alongside Lionel Messi at Barcelona between 2013 and 2017. He recorded 105 goals and 76 assists in 186 appearances across all competitions, helping the Blaugrana win eight trophies, including the 2014-15 treble.
Edited by Silas Sud