Fan already has huge cash out on 450/1 Lionel Messi bet after he joined Inter Miami | OneFootball

Given Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to victory at the World Cup as recently as last year, it was inevitable he was going to be a success in America.

Granted, Messi endured a tough time during the latter part of his spell at Paris Saint-Germain and was even booed by a section of their fans at one stage.

But, to be fair to Messi, he did still register 16 goals and as many assists in the 2022/23 Ligue 1 campaign – a return the majority of players on the planet would be ecstatic to boast.

The point we’re trying to make here is that though Messi’s exit from PSG hardly came as much of a shock, he is still a good enough player to have moved to pretty much any top side in Europe should he have wished.

That makes Inter Miami’s capture of the Argentine all the more remarkable. The US side, co-owned by David Beckham, was only founded in 2018. Six years later, they have the favourite for the 2023 Ballon d’Or in their ranks.

Messi’s brilliant start to Inter Miami career

Unsurprisingly, Messi has made an immediate impact, with Miami winning all four of the games he’s featured in so far.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored seven times already, including two stunning free-kicks.

In fact, at this point, it feels like Messi is destined to score every time he steps over a dead-ball from outside the box.

What seems clear is that Messi is enjoying his football again. His very presence has lifted the energy inside the club and with former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets also in the squad, the future seems bright.

"I am very happy to have chosen to come to this city with my family, to have chosen this project and I have no doubt that we are going to enjoy it very much," Messi said.

"We are going to have a good time and great things are going to happen. Thank you very much, thank you all for this day."

Fan places crazy bet 450/1 bet on Lionel Messi

While, in hindsight, we all should’ve known that Messi would take to life In America like a duck to water, one fan has backed him to do the almost unthinkable and placed a bet with staggeringly high odds.

Twitter user Bradm1nBets, who runs a betting group on the social media platform, shared a screenshot of the two-fold accumulator he placed on Messi shortly after he joined Inter Miami.

One part of the bet concerns Messi been the top goalscorer in the MLS at odds of 40/1, while the other leg has Inter Miami to win the League Cup this season at 10/1.

Brad staked £50 on the double, meaning a whopping potential return of £22,550.

So far, the bet is going pretty well. Miami have cruised into the quarter-finals of the Leagues Cup and face Charlotte in the next stage on Saturday, August 12.

They are now just three games away from winning the entire competition, having been in horrendous form before the arrival of the Argentine wizard.

As for the other side of the bet, Messi is still yet to play an MLS game this season and, therefore, has an awful long way to go if he is to win the Golden Boot.

Remarkably, however, despite not playing a league game for the club, odds on Messi to win the MLS Golden Boot have dropped from 40/1 to 5/1 - owing to his exceptional start to his Miami career.

It means Brad already has a healthy cash-out option of £605,79 – pretty incredible given Messi has played just four games so far for Miami.

Many may be tempted by that cash-out option, but Brad appears as though he’s staying put for now – highlighting just how much faith he has in the 36-year-old.

Who’s leading the MLS Golden Boot race currently?

At the moment, Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar leads the way with 13 goals from 24 games.

The German attacking midfielder has previously played for the likes of Benfica and RB Salzburg, but moved to Nashville back in 2020.

He has played for every German age-group side at international level, though he is still yet to earn a cap for the senior team.

Meanwhile, Luciano Acosta of Cincinnati and Denis Bouanga of LAFC are both on 12 goals.

Acosta is a fellow Argentine, who has played more than 200 games in the MLS, while Bouanga is a Gabon international, who was formally a prolific striker at Saint-Etienne.

Other names you may recognise include ex-Arsenal forward and Mexico international Carlos Vela (eight goals) and Belgian striker Christian Benteke (eight goals).

If Messi is to surpass all of these names, then Miami will almost definitely have to qualify for the play-offs.

The problem is, they currently sit bottom of the Eastern Conference after 22 games and are 12 points off a play-off place with 12 matches remaining.

It’s by no means an impossible task, especially considering it’s Messi, but you’d imagine the Argentine will have to get at least 20 goals to stand a chance of winning the Golden Boot.

Will Inter Miami win the Leagues Cup?

Miami are still chasing their first honours as a club but they have a huge chance to change this statistic courtesy of the Leagues Cup this season.

It would be some feat as well. Though the Leagues Cup started as a small tournament with as little as four teams each from Mexico and the US, it has now been expanded to include all the clubs in the MLS and the Liga MX, with 47 clubs competing in total.

With just eight teams remaining, Miami are within touching distance of winning the competition and are considered favourites by many at this stage.