Messi reveals just how close he came to joining Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

Messi made a free-transfer switch to the MLS side after leaving Paris Saint-Germain during the summer.

Since arriving in Florida, Messi-mania has grown tenfold following his heroics in leading Inter Miami to Leagues Cup glory - the first trophy in the club's history.

His huge influence helped attract Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets to join him at the club.

But things could have been very different had Messi opted for a move to Saudi Arabia to reignite his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi confirmed options were on the table to head to the Middle East in a move that initially appealed to him.

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"My first option was to return to Barcelona, but it was not possible," Messi told TIME. "I tried to return, and it did not happen.

"It is also true that later I was thinking a lot about going to the Saudi league, where I know the country and they have created a very powerful competition that can become an important league in the near future. It was Saudi Arabia or MLS, and both options seemed very interesting to me."

The Saudi Pro League has invested huge sums of money in bringing top-tier talent to the fast-growing championship.

Ronaldo was the first to make the move when he signed a lucrative two-year deal with Al Nassr in January.

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The Portuguese star opened the door to a host of big names arriving in the league including Karim Benzema and Neymar.

But Messi settled on David Beckham's Inter Miami and in a city he already owned property in.

His impact has been felt among his teammates as well as off the pitch with Inter Miami already having sold out of season tickets ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Messi is currently enjoying the off-season but is preparing to return to training in January ahead of Miami's first pre-season fixture on January 19, where he could be joined by another former Barcelona teammate in Luis Suarez.