Back in the summer of 2007, England international David Beckham made headlines by leaving Real Madrid and joining MLS club LA Galaxy on a free transfer at 31-years-old.
The move stunned soccer fans all over the world and many thought it made zero sense to leave the biggest club in soccer to join a league that was just over 10-years-old at the time. However, 16 years later when the game's greatest player came to the MLS, it all started to make sense.
When Beckham signed his Galaxy contract, the deal included an option for the former Manchester United player to own a future MLS club for a reported $25 million—which would end up being Inter Miami.
Of course, Beckham isn't the sole owner of Inter Miami. He's part of the ownership group that features brothers Jorge and Jose Mas who both rose to prominence after taking over their fathers' construction company in the 1990's.
Just as Beckham changed the future of the sport in the U.S. both on and off the field after joining the Galaxy, he hopes that Lionel Messi will have a similar effect after he joined Miami in July 2023. Although Messi was 36-years-old when moved to MLS, he's proven that he's still one of the best players in the world that chose to come to Miami on a free transfer when he could've gone anywhere in the world.
Speaking on former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand's podcast, Beckham explained how MLS has evolved over the year and how he hopes it continues to grow well after Messi's playing days in the U.S. and Canada.
"So a lot has changed over the years [with the MLS] and I feel very proud that I've been part of that change," Beckham said. "I know that there's still a lot of work to do, but I think what we've done in Miami, when you bring someone like Leo [Messi] to America, I always said that it was our gift."
While Messi is no doubt a huge commercial boost for Miami and MLS as a whole, Beckham reveals he wanted to bring a player of Messi's quality to MLS to also help lift the level of soccer in the U.S. in the future.
"As an ownership group and as a person that owns the club, I wanted to do something for the game. I also wanted to do something for America because they've given me so much over the years and they've given me so much love that to bring Leo [Messi] to inspire the next generation of players in America, that's what we wanted to do," he said.
