LIONEL MESSI signing for Inter Miami felt as good as walking out at Old Trafford, admits David Beckham.
Golden Balls finally secured the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's signature earlier this summer after a decade of plotting.
Messi, 36, has instantly looked right at home in the US – scoring three times in his opening two matches and playing with a constant smile on his face.
He marked his debut with a stunning last minute free-kick winner that grabbed America's attention and left Beckham in tears.
His incredible arrival has marked the culmination of a long journey for Becks and co-owners Jorge and Jose Mas.
"I never thought I would have the same feeling as an owner as I had when I was a player," Beckham told The Athletic.
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"When I got the phone call, I had the feeling I had when I walked out at Old Trafford or Wembley. I was like, ‘We’ve just beaten all competition to sign the greatest player to ever play our game’."
Messi announced in early June that he'd be joining the MLS side, snubbing an even more lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia in the process.
Beckham, 48, was in Japan with ex-Spice Girl wife Victoria at the time, and could scarcely believe that a decade of planning had come to fruition.
He said: "I was in Japan with the family and woke up at 5am because my phone kept vibrating. My wife was like, ‘Really?! Turn your phone off!’. I look on my phone and I’m like, ‘What’s happened? Something’s happened!’.
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"I put my glasses on and I’m like, ‘Leo’s coming! It’s done! He has announced it!’. My wife was like, ‘What do you mean he has announced it?’. I said, ‘He has gone on TV and said he’s coming to Inter Miami!’. I get goosebumps talking about it."
Beckham left European football aged 32 in 2007, departing Real Madrid for a new life in Los Angeles with LA Galaxy.
The deal included a $25million (£19.5m) option to buy an MLS expansion franchise of his own, anywhere outside of New York.
He began working on his Inter Miami vision the day after hanging up his boots in 2014, with Messi never far from his mind.
Becks revealed: "It all came from a conversation over a glass of wine at dinner.
"I turn to Jorge and say, ‘One day, we need Messi to come to our club’. It was probably when we first met. I actually found on my phone the other day one of the first presentations that (advertising agency) Doubleday & Cartwright did — they mocked up one of the jerseys with the logo on and Leo was wearing it.
"That was 10 years ago. So it was always in my mind. I suppose every owner of a sports franchise thinks, ‘We want to bring the best players to our club’. Does it happen for everyone? Of course not.
"But we were sat at dinner and we were like, ‘OK, if we could bring Leo for our market, for our fans, for this part of the world, there’s no one better’."
Inter Miami's road to MLS was full of complications, even long before their 2020 debut in the competition.
They still play in Fort Lauderdale – around 35 miles from their desired Miami Freedom Park location – with club bosses targeting a 2025 move to their new stadium.
Beckham's team still haven't produced on the pitch, having already sacked managers Diego Alonso and Phil Neville during their short existence.
Now under former Barcelona boss Tata Martino, joined by his old Camp Nou icons Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, the sky is the limit for Inter Miami.
And Beckham is targeting domination on and off the pitch.
On what he wants his ambitious brand to look like, he cited the New York Yankees, before saying: "I want people walking around in our baseball caps knowing that’s a Miami cap, that’s a Miami brand.
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"Even if you’re not a soccer fan, you want to wear the jersey and the cap."
Messi's arrival has put Inter Miami on the global stage – and a decade into the project, Beckham feels like he's finally getting started.
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