Inter Miami owner and former England captain David Beckham has revealed his reaction after Lionel Messi announced that he would be heading to the MLS to join his club.
Messi was a free agent after his two-year stint with PSG came to an end after the completion of the 2022/23 campaign. While a return to Barcelona was being mooted, the 36-year-old decided to end his European adventure and start a new chapter in the USA.
Speaking to the Athletic, Beckham revealed his initial response to the announcement by Messi as he had woken up to a million messages on his phone and then came to know about the 2022 World Cup winner’s call.
“A couple of weeks ago, I woke up to about a million messages on my phone,” said Beckham. “I was thinking, ‘What’s gone off? I don’t usually get this many messages.’ All of a sudden, I hear Leo has come out and announced he’s coming to Miami. Obviously, it wasn’t a surprise to me,” said Beckham.
Beckham said that he had always told Inter Miami that he would try to bring in the best players into the club. The Inter Miami owner said that Messi joining the club is a massive moment for them.
“I have always said, from the word go, that if I had the opportunity to bring the best players in the game to Miami, at whatever time of their careers, I would do that. I have always made that commitment to our fans.”
“So when I hear that one of the best players – if not the best player – who has won everything in the game, who is still a great player, still young and still doing what he’s doing, wants to play for my team, it’s a massive moment for us,” said Beckham.
Messi will be having a Barcelona reunion in Miami with Tata Martino taking over as the new coach and Sergio Busquets also joining the team.