Luis Suárez has taken over a club from his native Uruguay on Tuesday. The striker will receive help with the project from his Inter Miami teammate and close friend Lionel Messi.
The exact role of Messi is still unclear. He may mainly function as an ambassador for Deportivo LSM, which bears the initials of the pair.
Deportivo LSM is a restart of an existing club that was founded in 2021. The club will play in the fourth division in Uruguay. The training sessions will take place at Suárez’s training complex, which is located on the outskirts of the capital, Montevideo.
“Today I want to offer Uruguayan football, which I have loved and grown up with since I was young, the opportunities and necessities to help all teenagers and children develop,” Suárez says in his announcement video.
“We have a lot in common since we were kids,” Messi adds. “We have shared so many experiences at the top of football. This project is the perfect place to continue sharing our vision of football.”
The 38-year-old Suárez and the one-year-younger Messi are still active at Inter Miami, which was surprisingly eliminated in the eighth finals of the Major League Soccer play-offs last season. The pair still have a contract until the end of this calendar year.