What it must be like to be Lionel Messi. On signing with Inter Miami this July, the club provided him with a ripped and ready bodyguard in Yassine Cheuko, who sprints up and down the edge of the pitch keeping tabs on Lionel. At this week’s Inter Miami vs Los Angeles FC game, Cheuko justified his $250,000 per month paycheque by dashing to stop a fan from reaching his charge. And that quarter mil is nothing in Messinomics. When the most successful forward in football history announced his move, subscriptions to Apple’s MLS Season Pass, which streams the US Major League Soccer season, jumped by 80 per cent. Handy for Lionel who, on top of his $60 million annual salary and share options, takes a percentage of Season Pass subscriber revenue and of his personal sponsor Adidas’s shirt sales. Meanwhile the guestlist for his first game at LAFC put film premiers to shame. Attendees included Gerard Butler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Holland, Will Ferrell, Liam Gallagher, Selena Gomez, Toby McGuire, Owen Wilson, LeBron James, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and all of Rage Against the Machine. As they sing in Argentina – Muchachos, Ahora nos Volvimos a Ilusionar!
