Miami: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the most famous football stars of all time, have announced that they will not be hanging up their boots any time soon, but both plan to become full-time businessmen when the time comes to retire from playing.

According to Thai News Agency, Lionel Messi, the 38-year-old superstar of Inter Miami in Major League Soccer in the United States, gave an interview during the American Business Forum in Miami stating that he has no thoughts about hanging up his boots at the moment because he is still enjoying playing football. However, he has thought about what he would like to do after retirement, which is learning how to run a business. At the moment, he admits that he does not yet have enough knowledge to enter that path fully.

Messi is currently in excellent form in Major League Soccer, this season scoring 29 goals and providing 19 assists for a total of 48 goals, the most in the league, and recently signed a new contract with Inter Miami until 2028.

Another all-time superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, the 40-year-old captain of the Portuguese national team and from Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr Saudi Pro League, revealed during an interview with Piers Morgan that he will not work in football after hanging up his boots, instead devoting his time to his family. He has the same thing as Messi: he is still happy playing football and still gets excited every time he scores a goal. However, he is different from Messi in that he has been preparing for his future after hanging up his boots since the age of 25, by managing his own company and devoting full time to his family.

Cristiano Ronaldo remains on track to become the first player in the world to score 1,000 career goals, having now scored 952, leaving him just 48 goals away from reaching the milestone. He aims to achieve this before hanging up his boots, with two years remaining on his contract with Al Nassr, or until he is 42 years old.