‘Don’t see myself as a coach’: Lionel Messi reveals surprising role he wants after retirement

David Beckham poses with the MLS Cup trophy with Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo)

Football legend Lionel Messi has said that he would rather become a club owner once he hands up his football studs rather than go into coaching.

“I don’t see myself as a coach. I like management, but if have to decide for one of the three I would like to be a (club) owner. I would like to have my own football club, to be able to grow it, to start from the bottom and to be able to give the kids, the people, the opportunity to grow and make it an important club. If I had to choose, that’s what would appeal to me most,” the 38-year-old Messi was quoted as saying by AP in an interview with Luzu TV streaming channel. The interview with Messi was recorded in December but aired in the USA on Tuesday.

Messi is thought to be on his last playing contract in Major League Soccer with the Inter Miami franchise, where he is likely to stay until the end of 2028 season since he recently signed a three-year contract extension with Inter Miami.

The Argentine superstar, widely thought to be the greatest footballer to play the sport, ticked off one the only remaining items on his to-do list as a footballer four years ago when he dragged Argentina football team to the FIFA World Cup trophy in Qatar. Now, later this year, Messi and Co will defend the title at a World Cup co-hosted by three North American nations: USA, Mexico and Canada.

Argentine football star Lionel Messi along with his Inter Miami teammates Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez are welcomed by football fans, as part of Messi’s India tour, at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on 14 December 2025. Also seen in former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.(Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

The Argentine football legend already partially owns a football club called Deportivo LSM which is currently in Uruguay’s fourth-division. Messi co-owns the club with his long-time Barcelona teammate who joined him at Inter Miami, Luis Suarez.

“Deportivo LS is a family dream that began in 2018. We have grown a lot with more than 3,000 members,” club founder Suarez said last May in a video alongside Messi. “I want to offer Uruguayan soccer, the place I love and where I grew up as a child, opportunities and tools for teenagers and children to grow.”

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner also has a future minority ownership stake in Inter included in his contract. The Inter Miami franchise already has English football legend David Beckham as one of the co-owners.

The Argentine football legend won the MLS Golden Boot this season after scoring 29 goals, five more than LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Nashville’s Sam Surridge. He also had 19 assists, and his 48 total goal contributions was one shy of matching the league record set by Carlos Vela in 2019.

Messi also became the first player to win back-to-back MVP awards in MLS history.