The Argentine looks set to smash several single-season benchmarks in his first full campaign in the U.S.

When Lionel Messi does hang up his boots – and that day is coming sooner than many are willing to accept – he’ll have made his mark on the record books, to say the least. Messi basically tore up everything that preceded him during his time at Barcelona, so much so that the sport can now basically be defined by two eras: pre-Messi and post-Messi.

The MLS and Inter Miami record books are obviously much newer. The league is still in its infancy compared to its European counterparts, while compared to Barcelona, Miami is essentially a newborn. Their records are still being written and none are particularly set in stone.

He’s less than a year into his Miami career, but Messi is already taking down MLS marks left and right. The Argentine is destroying all in his path to start this season, and he’s showing no signs of stopping.

On current pace, Messi looks set to challenge some of the league’s top marks, and while nothing is guaranteed, particularly with a Copa America coming this summer, it seems like MLS’ record books are being rewritten before our very eyes by a player that’s no stranger to rewriting them.

Messi missed about a month of MLS games due to injury. If you look at his stats, though, you’d have no idea. The Argentine has more than made up for lost time, scoring goal after goal to open his MLS campaign. In seven matches, including six starts, Messi has directly contributed to a total of 16 goals. All of that has come in just 585 minutes, which means Messi is averaging a goal or an assist every 36.5 minutes. Even by Messi standards, that’s absurd.

He’s scored nine of his own and set up seven more, contributing to all-but four of the goals scored in the games he’s played for the Herons. With Messi on the field, Miami have dropped just four points from those seven appearances.

Despite missing time, Messi is leading the league with his nine goals, one more than Real Salt Lake’s Chicho Arango and D.C. United star Christian Benteke. In assists, Messi is also the league leader, level with Arango and Minnesota United playmaker Robin Lod.

All of that despite missing four matches due to injury. It’s no surprise, though… just Messi being Messi.

It’s not just the volume of goals, but rather the consistency. When Messi is on the field, you can basically guarantee multiple goals for Miami.

In his seven MLS appearances so far this season, Messi has contributed to more than one goal in all-but one. His most recent effort? A two-goal, one-assist explosion against the New England Revolution, matching a previous two-goal, one-assist explosion against Nashville SC just one week prior.

With his performance against the Revs, Messi became the first player in MLS history to record multiple goal contributions in five consecutive games. He also earned some unsurprising recognition from those at the league office…

On Monday, MLS made it official… not that we didn’t know it was coming. Messi was named MLS Player of the Matchday for Match 11, meaning the Argentine has claimed the award in two of the last three weeks.

By winning the prize, Messi joins Luis Suarez in winning it twice in this young season. The South American duo are the first pair of teammates to earn multiple Player of the Matchday honors in the first 11 matchdays since Landon Donovan and David Beckham did so for LA Galaxy. That’s decent company, for sure.

Additionally, Miami are the first club to have earned four of the first 10 Play of the Matchday honors since 2021, when the Galaxy did the same. It’s safe to assume that Messi isn’t done, though. There are plenty of goals and records still very much in his sights.

Credit: Goal.com

Manchester United announced more changes to its executive structure on Tuesday as the new era under co-owner Jim Ratcliffe continues to take shape.

Interim CEO Patrick Stewart and chief financial officer Cliff Baty will step down at the end of the season by mutual consent, the club said.

Jean-Claude Blanc, CEO of Ratcliffe’s INEOS Sport, will take over as chief executive until former Manchester City executive Omar Berrada takes on the role on July 13.

Baty will be replaced by former INEOS Sport chief financial officer Roger Bell.

“I would like to personally thank both Patrick and Cliff for their support in helping us get to know the club and making us feel welcome and I respect their decisions to now move on as we establish a new management team for the club,” Ratcliffe said.

The billionaire owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS bought a 25% stake in United in February, and his investment has already seen a host of major changes at the club.

Former CEO Richard Arnold stepped down in November and football director John Murtough left earlier this month.

Ratcliffe’s investment, which will eventually rise to a 27.7% stake, has seen him assume control of United’s soccer operations.

INEOS director of sport Dave Brailsford and Blanc have joined the board of the club.

As well as the appointment of Berrada, former City academy director Jason Wilcox has been hired as technical director.

An organisation of Olympic sports federations on Friday said the decision by World Athletics to award prize money to gold medallists in its events “undermines the values of Olympism”.

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) released a statement which made clear how unhappy it was at the announcement by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe that track and field gold medallists at the Paris Games will receive $50,000 (47,000 euros).

World Athletics’ move, announced last week, was a first for a federation at an Olympics. It said it would extend prize money to all medallists in Los Angeles in four years’ time.

ASOIF, which has 30 full members and two associate members, said: “This move undermines the values of Olympism and the uniqueness of the Games. One cannot and should not put a price on an Olympic gold medal.

“This disregards the less privileged athletes lower down the final standings.”

It said other Olympic sports cannot afford to offer prize money.

“Not all sports could or should replicate this move, even if they wanted to,” said ASOIF.

The organisation added that it accepted schemes by National Olympic Committees and governments to “reward athletes for outstanding performances…for purposes of national pride and …consistently across all the sports at the Olympic Games.”

It also said that there had been a consensus that, where sports had a surplus, Olympic revenue should “be invested as a priority into development and integrity.”

The organisation was also unhappy that Coe had announced the move without warning to its fellow federations, although it had informed the International Olympic Committee on the day of the announcement.

“ASOIF was neither informed nor consulted in advance of the announcement, which was made one day after the ASOIF General Assembly,” it said, adding “it is important and fair to discuss the matter at stake with the other federations in advance”.

World Athletics responded in a statement to AFP that its decision to award prize money was “about underscoring our unwavering commitment to empowering the athletes and recognising the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games”.

It said it agreed it was impossible to put a “marketable value” on winning an Olympic medal.

“But we think it is important to make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is,” World Athletics added.

The total World Athletics prize fund of $2.4 million will come from the International Olympic Committee’s revenue share allocation that the federation receives every four years.