Lionel Messi’s transfer to David Beckham-owned Inter Miami was one of the biggest transfers in history and similarly, it was too unexpected. Many had thought that the then-Paris Saint-Germain star would return to his childhood club, Barcelona. He had even received a lucrative proposal from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.
So when the Argentine eventually chose to join Inter Miami, many were perplexed. And now David Beckham has revealed how the transfer was done by him due to an unusual tactic.
David Beckham reveals his tactic of talking to Messi’s dad to discuss transfer
In an interview with former teammate Gary Neville’s podcast ‘Stick to Football‘, Beckham revealed that signing Messi was not easy at all and that he himself had to work a lot to make the deal happen.
Apparently, the process started four years ago, when Inter Miami was just created and back when Messi was still at Barcelona. He revealed that he had to sneak into Messi’s father, Jorge Messi’s room to convince them of his project.
He admitted that they were not ready for the move at the time, saying, “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 then said how he tried his best to convince them to join the MLS side in the future: “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.”
After that conversation, when Messi was at the end of his time at PSG, after the World Cup triumph, it was then that the club again pounced for him. And this time, they were successful.
David Beckham discloses Messi had offers from Saudi and Barcelona
But David Beckham did admit that they were close to losing the Argentine to other clubs, namely Barcelona and Al Hilal. While Messi had no intention to go to the Arab club, despite the biggest contract offer for a player ever, a Barcelona return was very much possible. Messi himself wanted it, as he wanted to say a final goodbye to his lifelong fans there.
It was only when it was understood that the financial restrictions of the club would not let that happen that Messi decided to join Inter Miami. Beckham said regarding that, “We made the offer [to Lionel], but he had offers from Saudi [Arabia], he’d had offers to go back to Barcelona and the Barcelona one really worried me because it pulled on the heartstrings. He never really got to say a proper goodbye, but then it was down to him to decide.”
Messi has been brilliant for Miami ever since, scoring 11 goals and helping the team stay unbeaten every game he played in. He also helped them win their first trophy ever in the Leagues Cup. Aside from that, he has brought widespread attention and coverage to the club and the MLS itself. The club’s revenue has also increased due to increased ticket prices and merchandise sales.
Currently, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is injured, but there is a possibility he could come back in the next few matches. David Beckham must be proud and happy that he finally managed to bring in possibly the best player of the past decades.
