08 June 2023 , 10:54
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Lionel Messi may have the chance to take over the Inter Miami captaincy, with their usual skipper ruled out with a long-term injury.
Gregore has been sidelined since March and is not expected to return to fitness until the end of September. Standing in for the midfielder has been Tottenham flop DeAndre Yedlin, but Miami have won just three games with the American as skipper.
Yedlin joined Spurs in 2014, but made just one appearance before leaving White Hart Lane two years later. He then spent five years with Newcastle, before returning to his homeland last February and assuming the captaincy after Gregore's injury.
The full-back joined Miami from Galatasaray and has since been a regular in their starting line-up. He has also earned more than 75 caps for the United States national team and could break the 80 cap barrier later this month.
But Inter have endured a dreadful time since Yedlin took over the captaincy, with the club now rock bottom of the Eastern Conference. They have lost nine games in that time, winning only three.
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That was a run of form that cost boss Phil Neville his job, with Javier Morales in interim charge. Owner David Beckham admitted it had been a "tough decision" to sack his former team-mate, but that the club's poor form demanded action.
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DeAndre Yedlin is currently stand-in skipper for Inter Miami (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)“When we appointed Phil we knew he would give Inter Miami his all and I have watched him work incredibly hard and with real commitment towards the ambitions we set out for the club,” Beckham told the club’s website.
“Sometimes in this game we have to make the toughest decisions and sadly we feel the time is right to make a change. I want to personally thank Phil for his hard work, his passion for our club and for his integrity as a person.”
Messi now arrives with a mission to boost the club's dwindling morale and attempt to return them to the MLS play-offs. That could see him take on the role of captain, having taken on the armband at Barcelona for his final three years at the Nou Camp.
While captain of the LaLiga giants, he won the title in his first season and the Copa del Rey just before leaving for PSG. Messi has already insisted that he will not take his foot off the gas at Miami and will still have the same drive to win.
"I have taken the decision to go to [Inter] Miami. It's still not closed 100 per cent, there are a few final details left, but that's the decision we have made. The truth is that I had offers from another European team," he told Sport.
"After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barça, it was time to go to the American league to experience football in a different way and enjoy the day-to-day. Obviously with the same responsibility and the same desire to want to win."