'Woke up to Million Messages': David Beckham Reveals First Reaction After Lionel Messi's Move to Inter Miami

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham has revealed that he wasn’t surprised after Lionel Messi announced his decision to join the Major League Soccer (MLS) based club. Having been heavily linked to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal Messi shocked the entire world as he signed with Inter Miami, ditching the interest from the Saudi Pro League.

As Messi became a free agent in June, following the expiry of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, rumours began circulating about Al-Hilal offering Messi a blockbuster contract to lure him to Saudi, however, he ultimately chose to sign with Beckham’s Miami.

The Argentine World Cup winner’s former club FC Barcelona were also in the running for a romantic reunion but ultimately Messi decided against joining his boyhood club for a new adventure in the USA as he heads outside of Europe for the first time in his career.

Transfer News LIVE, July 3: Newcastle Unveil Sandro Tonali, Manchester United Target Rasmus Hojlund

The 36-year-old is set to make his debut for the MLS club on July 21 against Cruz Azul. Beckham recently recalled his first reaction after Messi announced his decision to join Inter Miami and the former Real Madrid and Manchester United legend recalls that he woke up to a ‘million messages’.

Speaking at the ‘Lessons in Leadership’ seminar, Beckham recalled, “A couple of weeks ago, I woke up to about a million messages on my phone. 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. 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,” Beckham added.

‘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,” the Inter-Miami co-owner stated further.

Messi is currently on holiday and is due to join up with his Inter Miami teammates soon after the club announced the former Barca manager Tata Martino as the new coach.