Lionel Messi changed MLS forever when Inter Miami announced the signing of the Argentine international last year.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner remains one of the best players in the world even at the age of 37, with Messi playing a key role in Inter Miami winning the Supporters’ Shield this year and the Herons setting a new regular-season points tally.
With Andres Iniesta sharing how much Messi is loving life in Inter Miami, the former FC Barcelona superstar has made as big an impact on soccer in the United States since David Beckham’s move to the LA Galaxy in 2007.
And former Inter Miami captain DeAndre Yedlin has shared how he reacted when Messi was announced.
Yedlin ‘shocked’ to find out Messi was joining Inter Miami
Speaking to FourFourTwo, the FC Cincinnati defender revealed that he was ‘shocked’ to discover that Messi was actually joining Inter Miami, with Yedlin only finding out when the Argentine international announced it himself.
With Inter Miami star Drake Callender sharing a similar Messi story, the Florida franchise did well to keep the story secret that the soccer superstar was heading to MLS to move to Chase Stadium as part of the club’s overhaul.
And Yedlin was surprised to hear the news, with the USA international saying: “We found out when he announced it. We had known for a little bit of time that there was a possibility [Messi would join Miami].
“But I was kind of shocked, to be honest. The fact that the greatest ever was coming to the team I was playing for was surprising. Just to be able to learn from him, to hear all these stories about him and what he does on the field, to see that in person was pretty exciting.”
How does Messi compare to the biggest MLS transfers?
Messi is regarded as the greatest soccer player of all time, with the Inter Miami star winning the most titles out of anyone in the history of the sport and claiming every major trophy available to him.
And Messi’s transfer to Inter Miami should be considered one of the biggest in MLS history, with the 37-year-old boosting the reputation of the league more than any player since Beckham’s move to Los Angeles 17 years ago.
Indeed, Messi has been one of the most influential figures MLS has ever seen, and the forward will take the league to a new level if he can stay fit and keep pushing the Inter Miami brand as well as he has.