Inter Miami has hired former Argentina player Javier Mascherano as its new head coach, the Major League Soccer club has announced.

Mascherano will take over as coach of his old Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi at the club after Gerardo Martino resigned last week for “personal reasons.”

Most recently, the 40-year-old served as coach of the Olympic team that participated in the Paris Olympics and the Argentine Under-20 team.

In addition to playing with Messi, he made 203 appearances for Barcelona and was a teammate of Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets, who are currently with Inter Miami.

Mascherano coached Federico Redondo, Facundo Farías, and Tomas Aviles of Inter Miami while he was employed with the Argentine FA’s development setup.

“This job requires somebody with the experience to be able to maximise our unique collection of talent – from our global superstars, to our burgeoning home-grown players, to our young international prospects, and everything in between,” stated Jorge Mas, Inter Miami’s managing owner.
“Javier has unrivaled experience in his career, having played on the world’s biggest stages and coached at the young international level; he possesses the talents and experience we sought.

We think Javier is a valuable addition to our team as we pursue our goal of becoming one of the best in the world and raising the bar for football in North America’, Mas continued.

Miami broke the points record and won the Supporters’ Shield for the team with the best overall record this year, dominating the MLS regular season. As a result, FIFA awarded them a spot in the Club World Cup the following year.

However, in a stunning upset, Miami lost to Atlanta in a best-three opening round of the MLS Cup playoffs.

According to club co-owner David Beckham, he was certain the new coach possessed the skills required by the most prestigious club in Major League Soccer.

“What makes Javier great has always been his unwavering determination, supported by his knowledge, intuition, and understanding.” Beckham remarked, “We are thrilled to have him join our squad as our leader. Mascherano began his playing career with River Plate in Argentina before spending a season with Corinthians in Brazil. Before moving to Barcelona, he played for West Ham United and Liverpool in England.
At Camp Nou, the defensive midfielder was part of five Spanish title-winning squads and won the Champions League twice for the Catalan club.

“I consider it an honour and a privilege to be able to lead a team like Inter Miami, and I will work to maximise it,” Mascherano stated.

“I was attracted to the organization’s undeniable ambition and the infrastructure that enables it to achieve it.”