There aren’t many people who would have questioned the success Lionel Messi has had since joining Inter Miami earlier in the summer.

The Argentine superstar ended his illustrious European career by leaving PSG after his contract expired, and despite receiving enormous salary offers from Saudi Arabia, he decided to transfer to Major League Soccer in order to face a new challenge.

The news thrilled the audience and demand for tickets to watch the magician perform live drove ticket sales through the roof. His thus far performances have supported the notion that he still had sufficient talent to significantly improve his new side.

The 36-year-old, who is accompanied by former Barcelona colleagues Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, has opened many fresh eyes to the American game in his first few months. Following his much-anticipated departure, here are 10 amazing statistics about his brief stint with the team.

Messi has registered nine goals and three assists in his first six appearances for Inter Miami

Messi continues to have the drive to enter the penalty area and complete attacking movements despite playing as a midfielder for the bulk of the games. His entrance into the area is frequently perfectly timed.In the 94th minute of the game, he scored on his debut, netting a last-second free-kick winner to put him on his way to one of the best starts imaginable to his time in Miami. When he made his new team’s debut against Atalanta United in front of his new home crowd, he scored two goals and provided two assists.

This averages out at a goal every 56 minutes, and a direct goal contribution every 50 minutes.

Fans of the game are practically accustomed to Messi’s outrageous output at this point, as he managed to tally an absurd 91 goals in a calendar year back in 2012. During his stay in Spain, he averaged a goal and a goal contribution every 94 and 65 minutes, respectively.

He’s scored in every one of his Inter Miami appearances to date, and he’s already scored two clutch free-kicks

In addition to the game-winning free kick in the 94th minute against Cruz Azul in his debut, a stunning goal was scored from a similar set-piece circumstance against FC Dallas to force overtime and ultimately penalties. The game was ultimately won by his team, making his goal in the 85th minute crucial a second time.It is not shocking given how frequently the gorgeous Argentine phenom scores free kicks under duress, with his illustrious strike against Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League semifinal likely ranking as the best.

Messi stuck away a penalty in Miami’s penalty shootout victory over FC Dallas. He also sent in a free-kick cross that resulted in Dallas’ Marco Farfan scoring an own goal.

Along with his well-executed free-kick goal in the second half of the game against FC Dallas, the midfielder also fired in a cross from a set-piece to pick out an opponent’s head, leaving Farfan with no choice but to guide the ball into his own net.He boldly swished his spot-kick to the right in the penalty shootout that followed the conclusion of the game, assisting his team in winning the match and moving on in the competition.

He is yet to make his MLS debut. At the rate he’s going, he could conceivably become 2023’s top scorer in all competitions, despite only making his debut in July

With 18 goals, LAFC’s Denis Bouanga is currently the leading scorer across all leagues, including the MLS and League Cup. Because of this, Messi has only played six games and has already scored half as many goals as Bouanga. If he keeps up this rate, it will only take him another six games to catch up to Bouanga’s total.Even though the season began in February, Messi didn’t even join his new team until July and has yet to play a single league game. Incredible.

The 36-year-old is now the top scorer in this season’s Leagues Cup

He has only made six Leagues Cup appearances so far, but in those six games, he has managed to register a goal. Inter Miami has qualified for the competition’s final thanks in large part to the goals.The players are currently tied because Bouanga has six goals in the competition as well, but no one would rule out Messi scoring in the championship game.

Messi has already outscored Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo, Lothar Matthaus, Claudio Reyna, Freddie Ljungberg, and Denilson in North American football

It would be fair to admit that the majority of the players in question had less significant roles to play during their careers and were a little bit older than Messi is right now. But by anyone’s standards, to surpass them all in only six games is quite astounding.Messi’s detractors will be able to point out that, despite the perception of the caliber of football, it is not usually an easy transition for famous stars when they transfer to America. Messi may have been tempted to choose the simple route at this point in his career.

In fact, with hundreds of appearances between them, that lot only scored nine goals collectively. Messi has already managed to match this tally

This only serves to confirm what is already widely known. Messi is an extraordinarily talented football player. Additionally, he makes it seem so simple with hundreds of appearances by some of the best players. In fewer than 10 games, Messi has defeated them both individually and collectively.By the time he has played two more games, he should have surpassed all of their additional goal totals.

Inter Miami were winless in six prior to Messi’s arrival but has won all six of the matches that Messi he’s featured in

It’s true that the additions of Busquets and Alba, as already said, have been very beneficial in this regard, but it’s also obvious how much of an impact the fantastic Argentine has had since joining on a free transfer.The fact that the squad is currently last in the MLS Eastern Conference speaks much about their situation prior to finalizing the Messi deal in July.

Messi is now only 4/1 to win the MLS Golden Boot

With 13 goals, Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar is now the leading scorer in the MLS. However, once Messi establishes himself in the league and surpasses his prior goal total, Mukhtar’s position may be threatened. Even though it will be difficult for him to come up, the 4/1 odds show that it is still possible.Upon Messi’s transfer to Inter Miami, one fan made a spectacular accumulator bet, and the first half of that wager is currently looking extremely promising.