Inter Miami - Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and stars may leave club 'screwed' with MLS rules

MLS giants Inter Miami will not stop its headline-making pursuit of the world's biggest football stars despite pressure to meet the league's financial requirements, according to MLS commissioner Don Garber.

Former Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami last summer in a major coup for the outfit part-owned by Manchester United legend David Beckham. His ex Catalan teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets soon followed and then controversial ex Liverpool man Luis Suarez came too in the offseason. Miami now boasts a frighteningly impressive squad and prepares to kick off the 2024 MLS season against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night.

It's very shiny on the surface but a senior executive at another MLS club recently claimed Inter Miami had been left financially 'screwed' by their investment plan.

Inter Miami under pressure to meet MLS regulations

The Athletic reports that the club must come up with more 'allocation money' to meet the MLS salary structure and may have to lose players to meet regulations. Defenders DeAndre Yedlin and Sergi Kryvstov are two names believed to be on the chopping block, along with midfielders Gregore, Jean Mota and Robert Taylor.

The salary cap in the MLS is the maximum amount of money each club can spend on their squad outside 'specifically designated players'. In 2023, the base salary cap was set at $5.2 million, with an additional $1.9 million available in General Allocation Money (GAM) and $2.7 million in Targeted Allocation Money (TAM).

The MLS also sets both minimum and maximum wages for individual players. A team does not have to spread their salary budget across 20 senior players but must do so for a minimum of 18 and no more than 20.

The salaries of players on a 'Supplemental Roster', between 21 and 30 on the roster, do not count towards a club's salary cap figure. The salary cap does have some exceptions - Designated Players and Targeted Allocation Money.

MLS Designated Player and Targeted Allocation Money rules

The Designated Player rule is an exceptional regulation which allows MLS teams to sign players who do not meet the league's salary cap. This workaround facilitates the signing of footballing heroes on big contracts such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Kaka and Steen Gerrard in recent years.

Meanwhile, Targeted Allocation Money is a sum of money given to clubs by the MLS to sign players who will have an immediate impact in matches. This can be used to convert a Designated Player's wage to one that meets non-Designated Player rules, but when this is done, that vacant Designated Player slot must be filled again.

Inter Miami 'isn't stopping' with transfer drive

Inter Miami's roster must be compliant by Tuesday, February 20 - the day before the MLS season kicks off with Inter Miami facing Real Salt Lake. A high-ranking sporting executive at a different club told The Athletic: "They are screwed. Trust me."

Garber believes that despite those pressures, the club could soon bring in even more footballing icons. He told ESPN: "It's important to remind ourselves and everybody else that having arguably the best player of all time in our league says a lot about where MLS is, and how far it’s come over the years.

"And I don’t think Miami is stopping, right? Signing Luis Suárez and putting together a bunch of guys that Leo has played with for so many years, I think is fun. It’s exciting. And I think we’re going to see just more energy, and lots more attention."