Lionel Messi has been out for the last two months with an ankle injury he sustained during Argentina’s victory at Copa America 2024.
The former Barcelona and PSG forward suffered an ankle sprain that kept him out of the MLS All-Star game and the 2024 Leagues Cup. However, he is set for an epic comeback.
Inter Miami, manager Tata Martino confirmed to media on Friday that Messi is back and will be available for selection against the Philadelphia Union.
“He’s fine,” Martino said when asked about Messi’ fitness. “Yesterday he returned to training. He is contemplated for tomorrow’s game and after training we will define the strategy for him, but he is available. We are going to once again have the best player in the world within the team so we are all happy about that situation.”
There was concern that Messi would be sidelined this weekend due to a minor illness he picked up earlier this week that saw him miss training on Wednesday, but the manager confirmed it’s a non-issue heading into the weekend.
“Yes [there was concern], because it came together a bit with everything, the recovery of the ankle and just that throat condition he had, which prevented him from training,” Martino said. “But he had been training quite well and we always thought that Philadelphia was the game to return to. Luckily, this lasted only one day. Yesterday he already trained normally, we are just simply taking into account what has happened to define the strategy for tomorrow.”
Messi’s comeback is a huge boost for Inter Miami.
In 12 matches this season with Miami, the Argentina captain has scored 12 goals and notched 13 assists, accumulating an astonishing 25 goal-contributions during that span.
He is now expected to continue his good form for Inter Miami having sit out of football matches since July 1.
