Inter Miami set to sign another former Lionel Messi teammate

Inter Miami have already booked their place in the playoffs and are heavy favourites to clinch the Supporters’ Shield in the coming weeks, the first in team history.

Head coach Tata Martino will hope to have the returning Lionel Messi back to bolster their MLS Cup chances and the Herons have moved to strengthen the squad ahead of the post-season. ESPN report that experienced Argentinian goalkeeper Óscar Ustari is set to sign for Miami, proving back-up to first-choice stopper Drake Callender.

CJ dos Santos has been Miami’s reserve goalkeeper throughout 2024, even starting some games, but he was forced to undergo surgery last week after breaking a bone in his left hand. With Dos Santos out for the foreseeable future, 38-year-old Ustari will provide a short-term replacement.

Ustari’s history with Lionel Messi

The incoming Herons keeper will be playing in MLS for the first time in his 20-year career but is well-known to one member of the Miami squad. Ustari played alongside Lionel Messi in Argentina’s youth teams.

Messi and Ustari were both starters in the Argentinian side that won the Under-20s World Cup in the Netherlands in 2005. Messi was named the best player and top scorer at the tournament.

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Most notably, however, both were involved in Argentina’s Under-23 team that won gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. That Argentina squad also included the likes of Angel di Maria, Juan Roman Riquelme and Sergio Aguero.

Over the course of his career Ustari has represented many of Argentina’s most illustrious sides, playing for Independiente, Boca Juniors and Newell’s Old Boys. He also enjoyed stints in Europe with Getafe and Almeria in LaLiga and Premier League side Sunderland. Most recently he was a regular starter for Liga MX side Pachuca, winning the Apertura title in 2022 and winning a place in the league’s All-Star team.