"Suddenly, everything aligned" - David Beckham says secret hotel visit convinced Lionel Messi to join Inter Miami
David Beckham has revealed the story behind how Inter Miami managed to sign Lionel Messi. He claimed that the work started four years ago when he sneaked into the player's father, Jorge Messi's hotel room for a meeting.
Speaking on Sky Sports' Stick To Football podcast, Beckham revealed that the move to sign Messi was not an instant decision but had been in the pipeline since his Barcelona days. The MLS side's co-owner added that they held talks with Jorge Messi and informed him that they were ready to wait until the Argentine was interested in moving. He said:
"When I started this journey, ten years ago, announcing that I was starting a team in Miami, my vision was always to bring the best players. 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."
He added:
"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.
"When he was at PSG [Paris Saint-Germain], 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."
Lionel Messi has made a stunning start to his Inter Miami career. He has helped them win the Leagues Cup this season but is currently out injured.
Lionel Messi had offers from other clubs before he joined Inter Miami
David Beckham claimed that Lionel Messi had offers from other clubs before he sealed his move to Inter Miami. He revealed that the Argentine had a massive offer from Al Hilal, which was reported by GOAL to be the biggest ever offer for a footballer – worth €500 million per season.
Barcelona were also interested in re-signing the forward but wanted him to wait before they sorted their financial issues. However, he turned down the advancements as he wanted a quick decision on his future.
Lionel Messi was a free agent this summer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) expired. The Ligue 1 side had the option to extend it by another season but did not reach an agreement with the attacker.