Inter Miami appear to drop major hint on Lionel Messi shirt number in birthday message to Argentine superstar

Inter Miami have seemingly dropped an interesting clue regarding Lionel Messi's shirt number. In an Instagram post, the MLS side posted an image that read 'Feliz Cumple', which translates to Happy Birthday in Spanish. Keen observers noticed that the letters 'le' were made to look like the number 10.

The 36-year-old had huge success with the number 10 for Barcelona. Initially, he held the number 30 and moved to the number 19 for the 2005-06 season. Eventually, he inherited the iconic number 10 from the 2008-09 season, worn by the likes of Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho and Juan Roman Riquelme.

Messi transitioned into one of football's greatest after wearing the famous jersey. He went on to win seven Ballons d'Or, eight La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.

In the summer of 2021, he moved to PSG and took up the number 30, as his friend and former teammate Neymar wore the No. 10 jersey.

Messi also wears the No. 10 jersey for the national side. He emulated his idol, Maradona, wearing the iconic number and leading Argentina to their third World Cup triumph in 2022.

Currently, the No. 10 jersey is vacant at Inter Miami, so the 36-year-old should have no issues in picking it up. It was last worn by Gonzalo Higuain, who hung up his boots last season.

"You have the goals and records, but, I think, they are secondary" - Lionel Messi

Messi has won every major trophy at the club and international level.

Lionel Messi has claimed that goals and records are secondary to him. The Argentine was recently asked about breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's records and said (as quoted by beIN Sport):

"No, just a little bit. As I said before, at this stage of my career, I don’t focus on that anymore. I focus on what I was able to achieve with Argentina and the club level where I was lucky enough to win important titles like the UCL or Club World Cup, leagues, cups.”

He added:

“I was lucky enough to win everything, and that’s really what will remain at the end of my career. Of course, you have the goals and records, but, I think, they are secondary apart from the fact that they are nice recognitions.”

The 36-year-old recently left Paris Saint-Germain and signed with Inter Miami on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He is expected to make his debut in late July.