Messi pictured in Inter Miami kit 10 years ago thanks to David Beckham's vision

David Beckham visioned Lionel Messi playing for Inter Miami from "day one" of starting his Major League Soccer franchise.

Messi, 36, joined Miami on a free transfer last summer after a stellar career in Europe with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. He's continued to impress in the United States, scoring 23 goals in 27 games for Miami and winning the Leagues Cup last season.

Beckham, who is a co-owner of Miami, became arguably the most famous footballer to play in the MLS when he joined LA Galaxy from Real Madrid in 2007. As part of the transfer, the league gave Beckham the option to buy an expansion team.

The former England captain exercised that option in 2014 and started laying out his plans for the future, with Messi involved. The Argentina captain was at the peak of his powers a decade ago, winning the fifth of his eight Ballon d'Or titles in 2015.

Although the idea of Messi playing for Miami seemed slim back in 2014, Beckham hoped his dream would come true. He mocked up an image of the forward playing in the team's pink kit to his colleagues - nine years before that vision became a reality.

"My vision from day one, when I presented the team and tried to put the logo together and the colours, the last slide of the presentation to the creative guys was a picture of Messi in the Miami jersey," Beckham told the SmartLess podcast.

"So my dream was always to bring him to our team. I still can't believe it (that he plays for us). Every time someone turns around to me and says you have Messi in your team, it is surreal. To say we have probably the greatest player to have ever played the game, the most successful player to ever play the game, and he's playing in Miami in the MLS."

Miami were officially founded in 2018 and started playing in the MLS two years later. Beckham attracted some big players to the club during their formative years - including Gonzalo Higuain and Blaise Matuidi - but they didn't win silverware until Messi arrived.

Miami boast arguably the best team in the MLS now, with Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba also part of their squad. They are currently top of the Eastern Conference having won nine of their first 15 games and the favourites to win the league.

Messi dreamed of living in Florida, where there is a large Spanish-speaking community, and made his feelings clear to Beckham long before his transfer. That conversation "stuck in (Beckham's) head" and the Brit did everything to make the move happen.

Beckham added: "It took a lot of time, we started the process four or five years before he came, I sneaked into his dad's hotel and said, 'I want to sign your son, I know he won't come now but at some point we want to bring him to Miami.'"