No other team in Major League Soccer in 2023 was more earth shaking than the likes of Inter Miami CF. Moving on from Phil Neville and bringing in Tata Martino. The team made some large inter-MLS transfers with trades revolving around Kamal Miller, Bryce Duke, Indiana Vassilev, Damion Lowe, and other large names around MLS. But, the reason why Inter Miami shook the international soccer world was the signings of Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and the greatest soccer player of all time Lionel Messi! Spearheaded by Chris Henderson, the Mas brothers, & David Beckham, Inter Miami CF are doing their best to bring Major League Soccer into a new era… the Messi-era. This new era for the league and for Inter Miami specifically kicked off this season as the club was able to win the 2023 Leagues Cup, make the 2023 U.S. Open Cup Final, and make an amazing comeback within the league to get themselves back into the playoff picture within the final weeks of the season. I do have to say, this club doesn’t need MUCH fixing, but let’s take the dive into this current 2023 roster:
Designated Players: Winger - Lionel Messi, Defensive Midfielder - Sergio Busquets, & Defensive Midfielder - Gregore
U22 Initiative Players: Attacking Midfielder - Facundo Farias, Central Midfielder - Diego Gomez, & Centerback - Tomas Aviles
Lionel Messi
Now taking a look at this… it’s pretty simple. All of their roster construction spots are filled. All three Designated Player spots are filled and I don’t see any of them (nor should we see any of them) gone in 2024. Gregore is a high level defensive midfielder who had some bad luck with injury in 2023. But prior to injury, his presence (pre-Messi) was HEAVILY felt and he was allowing Miami to play at a high level. Lionel Messi is clearly going to be and deserves to be a Designated Player next season. In 14 games in 2023 for Miami, Messi scored 11 goals and recorded 5 assists, let’s move on. The only player that I could see exploring around some roster designation movement is Sergio Busquets. Do I love the idea of using a DP spot on a 35 year old defensive midfielder? No. Is there a world where he can occupy that spot if no friend of Messi’s wants to come to Miami? Yes. So if there is a chance Miami could grab a high level winger, attacking midfielder, or centerback on a DP contract… maybe the club tries to get Busquets on a max TAM deal. For the three U22 spots, they all are filled with some high potential South Americans. I would expect all three to fall into those spots for 2024, my only question mark right now is winger Emerson Rodriguez. He is currently out on loan in Liga MX with Santos Laguna but… if he returns to the roster in 2024 he would technically be under a U22 Initiative spot. Inter Miami would have some figuring out to do there if he is planning on returning next season. But all in all, Miami roster spots are all figured out.
Now, let’s take a look at the club’s potential upcoming players leaving:
Player With A 1 Year Club Option Post 2023 Season: Centerback - Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Striker - Josef Martinez, & Winger - Jake LaCava
Out Of Contract Players: Defensive Midfielder - Victor Ulloa & Defensive Midfielder - Dixon Arroyo
Inter Miami are one of the few teams to have announced their year end decisions so far. So we know as of right now that Josef Martinez, Victor Ulloa, and Jake LaCava did not have their contract’s picked up/won’t have new contracts offered for 2024. The club did announce that conversations are being held between defensive midfielder Dixon Arroyo and centerback Leandro Gonzalez Pirez for 2024 deals. If I am Miami, I would move on from the idea of bringing back Dixon Arroyo, and that is no slight at the player. Arroyo did a decent job in filling in for Gregore while he was out, but with the roster consisting of 6s such as; Sergio Busquets, Gregore, and David Ruiz… Inter Miami seems loaded at the position. I would be interested to see what happens with Leandro Gonzalez Pirez. River Plate down in Argentina holds the option to purchase out the contract of Pirez after he has spent the 2023 season on loan. Pirez has been a proven winner within MLS, finding his success under Tata Martino at Atlanta United. Could we see the return of “LGP” and Tata Martino to bolster a centerback group consisting of; Kamal Millar, Tomas Aviles, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Chris McVey, Ian Fray, and Ryan Sailor.
What does this 2024 team look like?
This team is mostly set. Messi, Tata, Busquets, Alba, and a slew of other talented players are already under contract. Now, what else can Chris Henderson and this Inter Miami front office do? What other friends of Lionel Messi want to come play down in south Florida? These are the questions we are going to have to wait and see on, but let’s take a peak at what 2024 could look like with Tata’s 4-3-3 formation:
Left Wing: Robert Taylor
Striker: Leonardo Campana
Right Wing: Lionel Messi
Attacking Midfielder: Facundo Farias
Defensive Midfielder: Sergio Busquets
Defensive Midfielder: Gregore
Left-Back: Jordi Alba
Centerback: Kamal Miller
Centerback: Sergiy Kryvtsov
Right-Back: DeAndre Yedlin
Goalkeeper: Drake Callender
Bench: CJ dos Santos, Tomas Aviles, Franco Negri, Jean Mota, Benjamin Cremaschi, Nicolas Stefanelli, Corentin Jean
Obviously, this isn’t the same starting XI and bench that you can go into every single 2024 match with. Injuries happen, suspensions happen, shit happens… but, this is a rough idea of the “best” 18 in my eyes. This one was maybe the easiest group to put together so far. When everyone is healthy, the starting XI seems set. The key players off the bench seem set. My only concern would possibly be some depth on the wing and at right-back. I’d like to see Inter Miami give Harvey Neville a shot at back-up right back in 2024 to Yedlin. So realistically, Miami would just need to go out and sign a winger that could fill in for Messi and Taylor. I know that the club has Stefanelli, Jean, Robbie Robinson, etc… but none strike the most confidence in me. But realistically, that group could get Miami through the first half of the season and into the summer transfer window to reassess. This starting attack is set. Lionel Messi will surely get himself into Best XI, MVP, and every other award category next season. Campana is an Ecuador international striker who scored 11 goals across all competitions in 2023. Robert Taylor is a Finland international winger who had 8 goals and 11 assists across all competitions. I can see the numbers for both of those two increased in 2024 with a full season of Messi in the attack.
The midfield seems set to me as well. I think they play with the double pivot of Gregore and Busquets. Both players are Designated Players and each brings a bit of something different to Tata’s system. I think Gregore could be more of that “cleaning up the mess” defensive midfielder, while Busquets can be more of the “connector”. But the man to create from that midfield role has to be Facundo Farias in my eyes. I put him in my starting XI over Cremaschi mainly due to the fact that he adjusted/produced in MLS so quickly! In roughly 1,000 minutes for Inter Miami, Farias had 3 goals and 3 assists while carrying a lot of the offensive load at points. But with a veteran like Jean Mota and a young star in Cremaschi continuing to play well, there will be a great rotation here for this side in 2024.
The backline is where I think the most worry should be for this group. I have great faith in Yedlin as one of the best fullbacks in MLS. Alba, even at his age, produced and played well in his half season with Miami. I think talent wise, Kamal Miller is still one of the best centerbacks in MLS even with a mixed 2023 season. Finally, Drake Callender turned into a top goalkeeper in MLS after his 2023 campaign. Outside of those four, I’d argue there are question marks. Who is the second centerback? Can the veteran Kryvtsov produce next season? Can Chris McVey bounce back after a bad 2023? Is Tomas Aviles ready to be a starting caliber centerback at only 19 (20 next season) years old? I don’t think these concerns are GLARING, but just something to keep an eye on next season.
Inter Miami should be fine. Give them a full season of what you saw for roughly a few weeks of 2023? Miami is taking home a trophy (or two… or three) in 2024. It’s going to be the Lionel Messi show again folks… GET READY FOR IT!
