Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham has now revealed how he snuck around to get Lionel Messi to sign for the American club.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner's future was a hot topic when his contract at Paris Saint-Germain ran its course earlier this year, with reports at the time suggesting that a fairy-tale return to Barcelona was on the cards.
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However, Messi went on to surprise many when he announced that he would be making the move to the MLS instead, and his boss Beckham has now explained how "everything aligned" for the Argentine to make the switch to the US, despite the wealth of offers from around the world reportedly put forward to the Argentine.
"When I started this journey, 10 years ago, announcing that I was starting a team in Miami, my vision was always to bring the best players," the former England international said on the Sky Bet Stick to Football podcast.
"I suppose as an owner of a team, you always want to bring in the best players, but the chance of bringing in the best is difficult and always challenging.
"But then, I sneaked into Messi's dad's hotel about four years ago in Barcelona for a meeting with him and obviously, at that point, we weren't ready to bring him in and he wasn't ready to come. I turned around to his dad and said, 'we want your son, we want him to come to Miami when he’s ready', and if that's a possibility.
"We continued the conversations, and with my partners, Jorge Mas and Jose [Mas], we just worked on it for about four years," Beckham added. "When he was at PSG, we saw an opportunity and he was either going to go back to Barcelona [or to Miami], but then suddenly, everything aligned, and we were still having the conversations.
"... To bring someone like him to the club, we knew it would change the club and we knew it would change the league and the sport – but it's beyond that.
"What he does on the pitch, what he does off the pitch, for the young kids – to bring somebody in like him is the dream, also Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
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