Fellow former Barcelona stars Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez followed Messi to Miami. World Cup-winning Argentina team-mate Rodrigo De Paul has also trodden that path, while the likes of Thomas Muller and Son Heung-min are elsewhere in MLS.
Asked if more big names will follow, with there already talk of Neymar and Robert Lewandowski potentially heading to the States at some point, Sagna said: “I see more because it is an exciting league, especially at the end of your career. It’s having fun and still enjoying football.
“You have quality players, especially South American players. America put on a show every game, fireworks etc. They don’t have as many restrictions on the private side of things. You can enjoy walking around the cities. Messi couldn’t do that because of who he is, constantly walking on the street, but you can do that there and see America in real life.
“The approach is totally different. I don’t want to call it a mini-retirement, but you learn how to love football differently by playing there.”
Messi will, much to the delight of a US audience, be sticking around for a few more years as he has signed a contract extension through 2028. He is expected to enjoy a mid-season break in MLS this year when forming part of Argentina’s World Cup title defence.