Messi Rules Out MLS All-Stars Game

Inter Miami has announced that Argentine professional football star, Lionel Messi, will be absent from the upcoming MLS All-Stars Game.

Sportxparte reports that Major League Soccer (MLS) confirmed this in a publication on Monday.

This decision comes eight days following Messi’s departure from the Copa America final match due to an ankle injury.

Messi was initially included in the roster for the Wednesday match in Columbus, Ohio, where MLS All-Stars from 18 participating clubs will face off against the best players from Mexico’s Liga MX.

The game represents the 37-year-old’s MLS All-Stars debut, following his transfer to Inter Miami in July 2023 after a distinguished career across Europe.

Messi has already achieved remarkable milestones in his first 12 games of the 2024 season for Inter Miami, scoring 12 goals and providing 13 assists, positioning him as the fastest player to reach 25 goal contributions in an MLS season.

The MLS All-Stars Game is scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, has refuted the claims suggesting that his highly productive midfielder, Kevin de Bruyne, intends to depart from the Premier League club for the upcoming summer season.

It has been reported that earlier speculations indicated that the 33-year-old Belgian athlete was close to terminating his contract with Etihad and was considering moving to a Saudi Professional League team.

However, in a statement posted on his official Twitter account on Tuesday, renowned football transfer analyst Fabrizio Romano clarified that Kevin de Bruyne will not join a Saudi Professional League team this summer.

“No, Kevin is NOT leaving,” Pep says.

As previously elucidated, the matter of viral allegations has been duly addressed by Guardiola.