What Sir Alex Ferguson told David Beckham before Lionel Messi to Inter Miami transfer

Argentine icon Lionel Messi brought his 23-year stay in Europe to a close earlier this week by confirming he will join US outfit Inter Miami.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner said on Wednesday evening he will join the MLS club, though Barcelona tried everything within their powers to take the 35-year-old back to the Camp Nou. He joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021 and his impending exit was announced earlier this week.

His move to the States will see him become the most famous name to have played in the MLS, linking up with Miami, who have always grand ambitions to recruit some of the sport's most famous faces ever since being established in January 2018.

In a statement, Messi said: "I'm not going back to Barca, I'm going to Inter Miami. I made the decision that I'm going to go to Miami.

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"I still haven't closed it one hundred percent. I'm missing some things but we decided to continue on the path. If the Barcelona thing didn't come out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more in my family."

Miam are co-owned by former United midfielder David Beckham, who is also the public face of the club as their president. It has always been a dream of Beckham's to bring an elite-level star to Miami, something he is now on course to achieve by securing Messi's signature. Back in 2020, the former England captain addressed plans to recruit either Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo at some point in the future.

Speaking at the time, Beckham said: "Well you know what, we've got great opportunities down in Miami. We've been contacted by a lot of different players over possibly coming to join the team. As