Lionel Andres Messi took center stage at the 20,000-seat DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Louderdale on Sunday night. The Argentine player was presented as Inter Miami's new player in a spectacular show. The agreement with the franchise, co-owned by David Beckham, is for two and a half seasons, through 2025. The player will be paid between $50 million and $60 million per year.

The player thanked the team for the opportunity and did so with a message in Spanish, in which he emphasized that he is looking forward to giving the club a winning streak. "I want to thank you for this reception and for this affection. I am very excited, happy to be here. I am very eager to start training and competing. I come with the same desire as always to compete, to want to win and to help the club continue to grow. I hope that during all this time they will continue to support me," Messi said.

Although the event was delayed for at least an hour due to a thunderstorm, fans turned out in droves. And so Messi was embraced by team officials, including fellow soccer star David Beckham. A performance by Colombian singer Camilo, who sang an acoustic version of "Muchachos, ahora nos volvimos a ilusionar," went viral on social networks.

Messi's career

During the event, there was no shortage of opportunities to highlight his career and to recall that the 35-year-old led his country Argentina to victory in last year's World Cup. Messi is the only player in history to have won, among other distinctions, the Ballon d'Or seven times; seven FIFA World Player of the Year awards, six Golden Boots and two World Cup Golden Balls. Also in 2020, he became the first soccer player and the first Argentine to receive a Laureus award and was included in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team.

"Number 10 of Inter Miami. Number 10 in America. The best Number 10 in the world; Lionel Andrés Messi," they announced Sunday at the presentation.

Inter Miami had been clear for some time that they wanted to sign Messi. In fact, in 2021, Jorge Mas, Inter Miami's manager, confirmed to the Miami Herald that both he and co-owner David Beckham had held several serious conversations with the Argentine star. "David and I have been working really hard, we have aspirations of bringing the best players here and Leo Messi is a generational player, arguably the best player of all time," Mas said at the time.

He stated that the intention is to make the club a reference in the world. "I am optimistic Messi will play in an Inter Miami shirt because I think it will complete the legacy of the greatest player in our generation and will meet with the ambitions of the owners of Inter Miami to build a world class team."

In 2018, former English footballer David Beckham, along with Bolivian tycoon Marcelo Claure and Japanese businessman Masayoshi Son, founded the Miami International Football Club, whose popular name is Inter Miami.