Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest footballer to ever grace our football pitches. There is no past or present footballer who comes close to being as decorated as the superstar is, frankly, he is a legend that will be remembered for many generations and generations to come for his genius on the pitch. There are blessings and curses that come with being the best and the biggest curse in that is that, over the years, there are lots and lots of miles put into your legs. Since emerging in Barcelona more than two decades ago in 2003, Messi has played in 899 club-level matches alone without factoring in the preseason friendly matches. The superstar has also played an additional 201 matches for Argentina making it an average of 55 matches per year or in other words more than one match per week. Messi now stares at an MLS offseason which will give him a break unlike anything he's ever seen. 

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The Argentine had earlier in the month been linked to a loan move back to Barcelona to maintain his fitness but it has turned out that the move is highly unlikely given the current circumstances that the Catalan giants find themselves in. When this month comes to an end, Inter Miami will not play a competitive match till early February. This means that Messi will go for about three and a half months without a competitive fixture. We look at how Messi will spend his time throughout the long off-season break. The Legend has been an iron man for his club and country throughout his professional career. It is even more remarkable to see how many high-level matches he has played in the past year given his current age of 36. Before making his move to Inter Miami, he had featured for Paris Saint-Germain 41 times in all competitions. He has already played 14 matches for Inter Miami during his short playing time at the club before he picked up an injury. He guided Argentina to lift the most coveted trophy in the world of sports when the South American football giants beat France in the World Cup final to dethrone them as the World champions in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. To say the least, it's been grueling as Messi has played for teams in three different countries across five different continents. He is not done either as Inter Miami will still play a few more matches before calling it a season. 

Inter Miami will head to China for a two-friendly tour as the club looks to capitalize on the international appeal of 'Messi-mania'. The club will face Qingdao Hainiu and Chengdu Rongcheng at the start of November as part of a quick tour of Asia in an effort to grow the brand even further. Inter Miami chief business officer Xavier Asensi said: "We're very excited to continue to expand our club's global reach, bringing our team to play in front of incredible fans across the globe. This is a special opportunity to share the passion as we reach new audiences and put ourselves on display in new places, and we're looking forward to beginning this adventure." Messi will also use these games to maintain fitness in addition to promoting his club's brand as he looks ahead to international duty. Argentina are off to a perfect start for the World Cup qualifiers having won all four of their games while scoring seven and conceding none. The fixtures get a whole lot tougher for Messi and Argentina though, getting into November. The defending World Cup champions will tackle Uruguay and Brazil in matches that are seen to be a massive test for the South American giants. These will be their biggest games since defeating France in Qatar in the World Cup final. After these two encounters though, Messi will sit back for the first time in his professional life and enjoy the holiday season. 

Messi said recently: “It’ll be the first time in a while that I spend a lot of days here in December during the holidays in peace with my people. And in January I’ll be back, I’ll do a preseason starting from zero and prepare myself the best I can, as always.” This coming off-season will surely be a welcome break for Messi, both mentally and physically. For the first time, he will get to enjoy time with his family without the looming presence of a European campaign. It is great to see Messi looking forward to having some personal time after spending much of his past two decades living on the pitch. He will, first of all, have to make a trip to France next week because as things stand, he is clearly set to collect his eighth Ballon d'Or honors which will put him three clear of the person with the second most who is none other than his long time arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo who has five of them. Messi will return to Inter Miami after the holidays to lead a club that as things stand is amongst the favourites to win the MLS Cup in 2024. 

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