Lionel Messi has told an Inter Miami academy to walk more in order to improve his game.
After years of dominating European football, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner left the continent after signing for MLS side Inter Miami on the back of his exit from Paris Saint Germain.
Since arriving in Miami, Messi has already had a big impact on the club and US football in general.
Speaking about his decision to bring Messi to the club, Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said on Sky Bet’s Stick to Football podcast: “To bring someone like him to the club, we knew it would change the club and we knew it would change the league and the sport.
“But it’s beyond that, What he does on the pitch, what he does off the pitch, for the young kids – to bring somebody in like him is the dream, also Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.”Beckham went on to pick out an incident where Messi gave a piece of advice to a player from the academy.
The former England captain said: “To bring in Leo has changed everything. The academy kids have someone to look up to, who has done everything, won everything, and he’s teaching them, which is amazing.
“There was an interview the other day with one of the academy kids, who is doing well, and they turned round to him and said, ‘what’s the best bit of advice that Leo has given you so far?’”
Beckham continued: “And he said, ‘to walk more’. He said ‘to walk more because you see more’ so it’s already started with the good that he does. It’s incredible.”
So far this season, Messi has played 12 matches across all competitions for Inter Miami, scoring 11 goals and assisting five.During his chat on the Stick to Football podcast, Beckham revealed how a secret hotel visit was part of his plan to lure Messi to Inter Miami.
He said: “I sneaked into Messi’s dad’s hotel about four years ago in Barcelona for a meeting with him and obviously, at that point, we weren’t ready to bring him in and he wasn’t ready to come.
“I turned around to his dad and said, ‘we want your son, we want him to come to Miami when he’s ready’, and if that’s a possibility. We continued the conversations, and with my partners, Jorge Mas and Jose [Mas], we just worked on it for about four years.”
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