When Inter Miami open their preseason tour against Club América in Las Vegas, all eyes will be on Lionel Messi. Two months after Inter Miami crashed out of the MLS Cup playoffs, the Herons are back in action ahead of the 2025 Major League Soccer season.

Argentina captain Messi was the MLS’ top scorer in 2024 despite an injury-hit year. The Herons want to learn from past mistakes.

Mascherano takes over a team that posted the best regular-season record in MLS history last season under coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino, who stepped down citing personal reasons. Martino said he made that decision before Inter Miami fell in the first round of the playoffs to Atlanta United, losing in a best-of-three series.

In the change, a club can use unlimited out-of-pocket funds to trade for players already within the league. This has previously required the use of General Allocation Money, players, or a mix of other mechanisms that are limited.

Inter Miami is already analyzing the possibilities offered by the transfer market, as reinforcing the team led by Lionel Messi will be crucial if they hope to have even the slightest chance of competing for the Club World Cup.

Lionel Messi's two-word message has Inter Miami fans buzzing as the team kicks off 2025 training under Javier Mascherano.

Inter Miami players assembled on the first day of training as the American side began preparation for the 2025 MLS season under the tutelage of new manager Javier Mascherano. Messi, later shared some photographs from the training session and in one of the images he can been laughing with team-mate Luis Suarez.