Lionel Messi: Beckham reveals how Alex Ferguson helped Inter Miami sign World Cup winner

Messi joined Inter Miami from French side PSG after his contract ran down at the end of the 2022/2023 season.

The forward has been a shining light for the USA-based club since his move and has rejuvenated the league with his presence.

Beckham's astute acquisitions of former Barcelona players Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, and World Cup champion Messi have been crucial to Miami's success on the pitch.

Beckham has disclosed that winning the battle to recruit Messi was largely down to some important advice from former manager Sir Alex.

He told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, “A lot has changed over the years [with the MLS] and I feel very proud that I've been part of that change, but I know that there's still a lot of work to do, but I think what we've done in Miami, when you bring someone like Leo to America, I always said that it was our gift.

"As an ownership group and as a person that owns the club, I wanted to do something for the game, but I also wanted to do something for America because they've given me so much over the years and they've given me so much love that to bring Leo to inspire the next generation of players in America, that's what we wanted to do.

"I think that one of the things that I learned from the boss over the years, and it wasn't something that he specifically told me, one of the things that I learned from the boss was it's not about bringing the biggest and best players, it's about bringing the right players.

"If you can bring the biggest and best players that is the right player, then there's not many of them around, but with Leo, what we knew that we were bringing and I knew that yes he was going to be successful on the field but I also knew that he was going to help our club off the field."

At 37, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is still playing well, scoring 19 goals in 21 games this year.

The Inter Miami forward recently scored a hattrick for Argentina in the 6-0 thrashing of Bolivia in their World Cup qualifiers.