The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner will be joining the squad in the coming days and will hold a franchise player spot, the club added. Messi is expected to make his debut next Saturday when Miami host Mexico's Cruz Azul in their Leagues Cup opener.
* Arsenal have signed Declan Rice on a long-term contract from West Ham United, the north London club said on Saturday, with manager Mikel Arteta describing the England international as an "exceptional talent". Financial details of the transfer were not disclosed but British media reported that the fee for the midfielder was £105 million (US$137.45 million), making it a record transfer between two British clubs.
* Referee Mike Dean will step down from his role as a Premier League VAR official and leave the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the referees' body said on Saturday. Dean, a colourful figure, began officiating in the Premier League in 2000 and refereed more than 550 matches in the top flight before he became a full-time Video Assistant Referee (VAR) official in 2022.
* Centre Court fans celebrated a home champion as Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with a 6-4 6-4 win against Spain-Argentina duo Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos on Saturday.
* Wales captain Aaron Ramsey is returning to his boyhood club Cardiff City on a two-year contract, the Championship side said on Saturday. The announcement came shortly after Nice confirmed that Ramsey had left the French club by mutual agreement.
* Jaguar's Mitch Evans won a crash-halted first of two Formula E races in Rome on Saturday, as fellow New Zealander Nick Cassidy retook the overall lead in the electric championship for Envision Racing. Evans started on pole position and beat runner-up Cassidy by 1.6 seconds with Maserati's Maximilian Guenther third in the manufacturer's home race.
* Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed swords again in their vintage duel on the Tour de France on Saturday as the defending champion gained just one second over the two-time winner at the end of an epic, incident-marred stage. Slovenian Pogacar beat Vingegaard in the sprint for second place behind 14th stage winner Carlos Rodriguez of Spain but now trails the Dane, who picked up an extra bonus second, by a mere 10 seconds.
* Juan Martin Gonzalez scored a late winner as Argentina stunned Australia 34-31 in the Rugby Championship on Saturday to leave the Wallabies in disarray and without a win two games into the second Eddie Jones era. Australia had scored two quick tries late in the game to overturn a 10-point deficit and take a 31-27 lead with five minutes remaining but the Pumas loose forward dived over a ruck on the Wallabies line to secure a famous victory.
