David Beckham admitted in an appearance on ‘This Life of Mine… with James Cordon,’ that he worked for five years to get Lionel Messi for his MLS team, starting to work for it even before Inter Miami‘s foundation.
But the moment Leo made the decision to play in South Florida took Becks by surprise. In the same show, the former England international revealed how he found out Messi was joining Miami.
“The memory that I have chosen is the phone call that I got when I was in bed in Japan saying that Leo Messi was signing for Miami,” the Inter Miami co-owner when asked by Corden about his best memory.
The 48-year-old explained he’d been talking to Leo’s father and agent Jorge, sneaking into a hotel where Jorge was staying five years ago to let him know they wanted Messi to play in Miami in the future. Flash-forward to 2023, Beckham was in Japan when he got the news. 4-5 am, in bed, his phone kept on buzzing as the world was in shock: Messi had decided to play for Inter Miami.
“I said, ‘Okay, Jorge, you and your wife Aledya have to go to the airport. Be there for the moment that he gets off that plane, because it might be his brother. We might have signed his brother. This is Leo. It’s Messi; it’s the greatest player to ever have played our game,” Beckham said about his immediate reaction when talking to Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas.
Lionel Messi’s game-changing arrival for Inter Miami
Unsurprisingly, landing Messi turned Inter Miami around. Not only did the Argentine superstar increased the club’s popularity, boosting its social media followers as well as season ticket holders, but he also brought success.
With 10 goals in just seven matches, the 8x Ballon d’Or winner helped the Herons lift their first ever title at the 2023 Leagues Cup, which let the team qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup for the first time.
Messi’s presence also paved the way for other stars to join Miami, with former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez following in Leo’s footsteps.
Additionally, Major League Soccer has also seen the benefits on Messi’s arrival in the number of MLS Pass on Apple TV subscribers and jersey sales. Needless to say, Beckham and company pulled off a historic move here.