Neymar set to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami as Al Hilal departure looms?

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Neymar, the Brazilian star, is poised to leave Al Hilal in the January transfer window, as per various reports.

The former Barcelona star joined Al Hilal at the start of the 2023-24 season, but his stint has been marred with injuries.

Neymar tore his ACL after just five matches for Al Hilal, which kept him out of action for a year. He made a comeback a few weeks ago in an AFC Champions League match, and is now ruled out for at least a month again. With the astronomical wage of $300 million in two years, the Saudi club is frustrated with the Brazilian and is looking to offload him in the winter window.

Amid this, Neymar has been strongly linked with an adventure in the MLS, with Inter Miami being tipped as his preferred destination.

Inter Miami's star-studded team will get another global star if Neymar arrives. With former teammates Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets already at the club, the Brazil international may contemplate a move to North America.

Although fans are high on the potential transfer thoughts, Inter Miami manager Gerardo Martino dampened their prospects. The Argentinian manager definitely wants his former Barcelona pupil in Miami, but believes MLS' salary cap will prevent the signing from happening.

"With [Messi] and the boys already here, anything that can happen. What I can't imagine is if the league doesn't make the salary issue more flexible, how it would be carried out," Martino said.

"After writing it or saying it in the media it's all good, nothing happens, it doesn't have any consequences, but what would the implementation be like? And the reality is that if there is something that the MLS has, it is that the rules are strict and can't be broken, unless the MLS decides to change," he added.

Currently, the salary cap of MLS binds all the team from paying exorbitant salaries to players, which in turn maintains the equilibrium in finance across the league. Except the designated salary cap, each club is allowed three Designated Players (DP). For the DPs, a club can go ahead and pay extra wage exclusive of the original salary cap.

In Inter Miami, the three designated caps are held by Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Leonardo Campana. As per the MLS rules, a single player's salary mustn't cross $683,750 per year, but the DP status means clubs can cover the astronomical salaries for those three particular players.

Apart from that, there are two more ways to cover the exceeding wages of players in MLS. "General Allocation Money" (GAM) is a league-wide allocation pool and "Target Allocation Money" (TAM) is a specified amount given to each team each year are the main two avenues for clubs to pay their other players who earn more than the highest salary cap amount.

Inter Miami will be up against Atlanta United in the final match of their three-match series in MLS Cup playoffs. After the first two matches, both teams stand with a 1-1 scoreline.