Inter Miami’s pre-season preparations are well underway, with Lionel Messia and friends currently undergoing their first training sessions with Javier Mascherano.
The former FC Barcelona defender was named as Tata Martino’s successor at the end of last year following the Argentina manager’s exit from Inter Miami, with Mascherano taking on the first club role of his coaching career.
With Inter Miami recently announcing Mascherano’s coaching team, everything is now in place for the former Liverpool star to get to work as the new manager of the Herons, where Messi is likely to be the key player for the Florida franchise once again.
And Mascherano has now shared what he plans to do with Messi this pre-season ahead of a Latin America tour.
Mascherano ‘won’t take any risks’ on Messi’s fitness during pre-season
Speaking to the press, the new Inter Miami manager revealed that Messi’s fitness will not be risked ahead of a bumper pre-season that will see the Herons travel to Peru, Panama and Honduras in the coming weeks.
With Universitario’s manager excited to face Messi, though, there is a chance that the Argentine international could feature in every game for Inter Miami in their upcoming tour, though the lack of travel compared to last year’s pre-season could be a huge benefit in keeping the 37-year-old fit and healthy.
And Mascherano appears to be taking precautions already with his captain’s fitness, with the Argentine coach saying when asked if Messi will feature heavily in Inter Miami’s pre-season games: “We’ll see. The objective is to get everyone ready for official games.
“We have several pre-season games and we’ll see how many minutes he’ll play based on how he feels, we don’t want to take any risks. The overall feeling is good and we’re happy with how everyone came back from vacation, it allowed us to demand from them from the first day.”
Who will Inter Miami play on their pre-season tour?
Having ended the 2024 season with just the Supporters’ Shield title, Inter Miami will be on a mission to go one step further and compete for MLS Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup, as well as the FIFA Club World Cup.
| Date | Opponent | Location |
| January 18th | Club America | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |
| January 30th | Universitario de Deportes | Lima, Peru |
| February 2nd | Sporting San Miguelito | Panama City, Panama |
| February 8th | Club Deportivo Olimpia | San Pedro Sula, Honduras |
| February 14th | Orlando City SC | Tampa, Florida, USA |
And a strong pre-season will put Inter Miami on the right path to success, with the Herons staying in the America’s this winter rather than embark on a worldwide tour with Messi, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets in tow.
Indeed, staying somewhat localized will benefit Inter Miami greatly in the coming weeks, and Mascherano overseeing new signings to improve the squad will also help the Florida franchise ahead of the new MLS season next month.