FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — When the MLS playoffs began late last month, everyone who follows Inter Miami assumed coach Tata Martino would be preparing his team for the conference semifinals this week. Instead, the runner up for MLS Coach of the Year was in the Chase Stadium interview room on Friday morning announcing his resignation two weeks after the team’s shocking first-round playoff exit.

Martino said he wanted to diffuse rumors and stress that he is leaving strictly for personal reasons, that he must return to his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, and that his decision was made before the first playoff game in late-October.

He said not even his coaching staff knew of his decision at the time as he did not want it to be a distraction. He informed Lionel Messi, managing owner Jorge Mas, and President of Football Operations Raul Sanllehi last Saturday and told the rest of the players on Wednesday, after they returned from the FIFA break.

Martino has no plans to coach another club in the immediate future, saying he cannot take on another job in early 2025 because he needs to focus on personal matters in Rosario.

Mas said his conversation with Martino ended at 11 a.m. last Saturday, the search for a new coach began “at 11:01” and that the club had selected a new coach by Wednesday, are finalizing contract details and “will be announcing a new coach for Inter Miami in the upcoming days.”

Javier Mascherano, an Argentine national team legend and former teammate of Messi’s, is the leading candidate to replace Martino, according to a few league sources. Media reports from Argentina say it is a done deal.

Mas would not confirm or deny the Mascherano rumors but said that the new coach will have a winning history at the highest level as a player or coach, have familiarity with Messi and the other team stars, and will be well-suited to lead Miami’s elite players as well as its young players.

“We have a very unique situation at Inter Miami where we have the best player in the world on our team, accompanied by generational talents like Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, accompanied by academy kids like Benja Cremaschi, Noah Allen, Ian Fray, David Ruiz, who have played significant minutes, and also young budding stars like Facundo Farias, Toto Aviles, Diego Gomez, Fede Redondo, so it will take a manager to play the attacking style we want to play with that combination of players,” Mas said.

Mascherano, the 40-year-old ex-Barcelona defensive midfielder, has been coaching Argentina’s U-20 team the past three years and coached Argentina in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has a storied playing career but has never coached a club team and has no experience in MLS, which is quite different from other leagues around the world in everything from schedule to salary structure.

Asked how involved Messi was in the coaching search, Mas said: “I spoke to Leo, and he gave his input. Familiarity with Leo and the other stars is an advantage in every aspect. I want Leo to feel comfortable with the new coach, but Raul and I spearheaded the search.

“This is not our first coaching search. I have been involved in interviewing some of the world’s best coaches since 2019. We have more experience now. We know exactly what we want. That’s why we were able to accomplish this search in five days. ... This is not the first time I spoke to this individual. We came close [to hiring him] in 2020, and he has been following our team and the league closely.”

Mas added that while MLS experience would be a plus, it is not a necessary criteria for the incoming coach, and then repeated that the main attributes they were looking for were a coach who could manage a locker room of stars and youngsters.

“We want to thank Tata Martino and appreciate everything he has given this club for the past year and a half,” Mas said. “His fingerprints and success will always be part of our history.”

Mas pointed out that the team, under Martino, lifted the Leagues Cup trophy in the summer of 2023, made the final of the U.S. Open Cup, won the 2024 Supporters’ Shield and broke the league’s points record.

Martino, 62, led Inter Miami to a league-record 74 points, which also earned the team the Supporters’ Shield for best regular season record. The team scored a league-high 79 goals.

Miami, with a star-studded roster including Argentine icon Messi and three of his former Barcelona teammates, fell short of expectations with a first-round exit from the MLS Playoffs after losing the best 2-of-3 series to Atlanta United.

Martino had a year remaining on his contract.

He joined Inter Miami in July 2023 upon Messi’s arrival and was a natural choice to get the job as he led Atlanta United to the 2018 MLS Cup title in that club’s second season, had coached in two World Cups with Paraguay and Mexico, reached three Copa America finals and, vitally important, coached Messi at FC Barcelona and with the Argentine national team.

Martino replaced Phil Neville and took over a team that was in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-13-0 record just past the midway point of the season.

With the addition of Messi, Busquets and Alba, Martino led the team to the 2023 Leagues Cup title later that summer.

Upon announcing his decision on Friday, Martino took time to thank team ownership and management and lamented that he couldn’t continue being part of the club’s growth next season.

“It has been a very satisfactory year and a half, I am grateful for the opportunity, and although we ended the season on a sour note, and fell short of what we wanted to accomplish, we had a lot of success and I would have liked very much to have continued being part of this club,” Martino said.

“I am happy we transformed this club from one that struggled to make the playoffs to the one that won the Leagues Cup, won Supporters’ Shield, and had the best record in history.”

Martino was asked how his players reacted to the news.

“It’s clear when you leave a job so abruptly, especially when there aren’t any apparent reasons, it hard to expect people to understand,” Martino said. “There are many coaches out there who would love this job. People would say, `This guy is crazy, working in this team, living in this place, working in this league and he’s leaving where everyone wants to be.’ I have had moments like this in my career. Things happen, and you have to leave. I appreciate that the players respected my decision and the club will go on.”

Asked what the team was missing during the playoff series with Atlanta, he replied that Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan was decisive in all three games, that Inter Miami played well and was in position to win all three games, and there were some intangibles and moments that went against Miami.

“I know someone from the outside hears that and thinks I am not being self-critical, which is not true. I am. People will debate if we should have played four in back or five, but if I had to do it again, I would line up the same way. In hindsight, it is easy to debate, and everyone has a right to their opinion.”

Mas also addressed the futures of Suarez, whose contract expires in December, and Alba, who has an option for next season, and dismissed rumors that sporting director Chris Henderson was headed to another club.

“I think Luis Suarez has been an amazing addition to our team and our league,” Mas said. “What he did this year was spectacular. Jordi Alba, my personal opinion is he had the best season of any left back on MLS history and I don’t think it’s close. We’re going to continue to have the best team we can. There are no budget limitations, we will continue to bring top players from all over the world ... and use every single roster mechanism we can.”

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