Lionel Messi will be rested throughout upcoming MLS season, warns Inter Miami coach Tata Martino with the team potentially playing until DECEMBER this year: ‘We can’t be worried about ticket sales’

Balancing his team’s health ahead of a long season – in which they could play every month of the year – could spell trouble for Inter Miami coach Tata Martino, who promised Lionel Messi and his other stars all year by giving rest.

Inter Miami is about to kick off a long seven-match preseason that will see them play abroad in Central America, the Middle East and Asia.

Martino understands that balancing the workload for his players is of utmost importance, which is why he says he doesn’t have to worry about ticket sales.

“We have a responsibility to make sure fans feel well represented on the field when our big stars aren’t playing,” Martino said (via the Miami Herald).

‘If the fans know that for different reasons Leo (Messi) will not be there or Busi (Sergio Busquets) will not be there or Jordi (Alba), but we will have a very competitive team, that is an important message.

He said this while adding that he will rest Lionel Messi for the entire season

‘Normally the best players are on the field, but we also have to make sure that our team is healthy and can last a whole season. That was difficult last season, the question of whether we sold more or fewer tickets, people wanting to know who was playing.

‘I would love for them to play every match, but we don’t have to worry about ticket sales. When they’re healthy, they play the majority of the games.”

At first glance, this statement seems like a somewhat flippant statement. Last season, fans shelled out hundreds – even thousands – of dollars for the chance to see Messi take the field.

That carries over to this season, as Inter Miami has increased prices for both singles and season tickets to a staggering amount. The cheapest subscription doubled from $485 last season to $884 this season.

Season tickets for lower level seating increased to $7,650, up from $3,600 the year before. Despite these drastic increases, all Inter season tickets are sold out.

That has led some scalpers to become incredibly greedy and jack up prices on individual games on second-hand markets.

Before Messi’s debut last season, some tickets were sold for as much as $20,000 to be in the Argentine’s presence.

For Martino to dismiss that as not being worth worrying about is somewhat disrespectful to the fans who paid their hard earned money to see the best footballer in the world.

Messi has attracted a lot of attention as ticket prices for Miami have skyrocketed this year

But with Inter Miami potentially playing 67 games this year, Messi will need that rest

But there is a downside to that. If Inter Miami advances to the finals of every competition they play in – MLS Cup, the US Open Cup, the Leagues Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup – they could play between 65 and 67 matches this season. That’s one match every five days in a 365-day period.

That’s a heavy workload for any footballer, let alone Lionel Messi – who is about to turn 37 this year.

Even without Martino’s residual impact, Messi won’t play all of these games for Inter Miami. Part of that is because he will be playing for Argentina.

With the Copa America, Messi is guaranteed to miss two games and can be absent for a maximum of five games. That does not include other international friendlies or breaks prior to that tournament, nor does it include CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying in September, October and November.

MLS will still be playing all the time, while the league continues to bury its head in the sand when it comes to playing amid international breaks.