The Argentine's arrival will certainly lift the club, but it'll take more than Messi for Miami to reach the top of MLS

Wednesday was a day for celebration at Inter Miami. Finally, after all of these years, their dream has come true. Lionel Messi, perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time, chose them as his next club. In just a few weeks, one of the game's great icons will put on that soon-to-be-famous pink shirt for the first time.

It's a monumental moment, no doubt, one that will change the trajectory of Inter Miami and American soccer as a whole. However, when it comes to Inter Miami, their trajectory will certainly need changing. Messi, by any measure, is walking into something of a mess.

How you view that fact depends on how optimistic you are as a person. The pessimist would see a club with no head coach at the bottom of the table. They'd see a team that is, quite obviously, the least-talented of any Messi has played for. They'd see a roster that will ask a hell of a lot of a 35-year-old star that, at least in recent years, has preferred to be more of a provider at club level.

The optimist, though, sees an opportunity. They would see a chance to rebuild the club, mainly in Messi's image. They'd see something of a blank canvas located in a corner of the world that many athletes are drawn to, even more so now due to the presence of the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner.

But, make no mistake, Inter Miami won't be waltzing to an MLS Cup just because Messi put pen to paper. There's hard work ahead for all involved and, even with Messi still on board, there's still so much to figure out.

Getty ImagesInter Miami's history so far

Most people are aware of how Inter Miami came to be. When David Beckham signed with the LA Galaxy in 2007, part of the deal included the right to buy his own team at a cut-rate price. Beckham exercised that option to put a team in Miami and, after several years of political battles over the stadium situation, Inter Miami arrived in 2020.

From the start, the club looked to capture the glitz and glamor of both its owner and its city. Miami has long been an ideal tourist destination for some of the world's biggest stars, and the club promised that it would attract those stars in time.

The club went young for its first few big signings, but quickly brought in the superstar names in Gonzalo Higuain and Blaise Matuidi. However, in 2021, the club was punished for the Matuidi signing, which was not done in compliance with MLS rules. As a result, the club played the 2021 and 2022 seasons under financial sanctions.

Those sanctions, and some missteps in the initial roster build, have limited the club's rise in MLS. After finishing 10th and 11th in their first two seasons, Inter Miami made the postseason in 2022 with a sixth-place finish, before being unceremoniously dumped out in the opening round.

After that loss, Higuain retired and, with Matuidi long out of the picture, the club entered 2023 with a shorthanded roster and lacking a bit of starpower, even with the arrival of former MLS MVP Josef Martinez.

AdvertisementTwitterYears of recruiting

While Inter Miami were obviously focused on building a strong team, it is fair to say that the club always had one eye looking across the Atlantic at Messi. The club made no secret of its ambitions and, for years, those ambitions have centered around the Argentine. Owner Jorge Mas spoke several times about his desire to lure Messi to Miami. In some ways, it feels like the club's whole history has led to this moment.

Since Messi's Barcelona exit, the club has been in contact with his entourage, trying desperately to sell him on the project. Perhaps the most interesting thing about that project is that it is one Messi can build in his own image. This isn't a team with years of history and unprecedented success; this is a new club that he can instantly define.

Because of that, Messi will no doubt know what he will be walking into. He didn't sign up to instantly win trophies, and he didn't sign up to necessarily compete at the top of the game. MLS, for all its recent growth, isn't yet one of the world's top leagues, and Inter Miami is nowhere near one of the league's top on-field clubs.

Miami's recruitment pitch was never about what the club is or has been because, to put it bluntly, it hasn't been very good on the field. Rather, the pitch was on what this club could be with a figurehead like Messi leading the charge.

Getty ImagesNo more Neville

For the club's initial season, Inter Miami turned to Diego Alonso to be its first-ever head coach. He arrived with a strong reputation from his time in Liga MX with Pachuca and Monterrey.

After that first season, though, Alonso was gone, replaced by Phil Neville. It was the former England star's first senior men's head coaching role, having previously managed England's women's team and, from the start, there were questions as to whether or not Beckham's long-time team-mate deserved the role.

Neville, in truth, was dealt a poor hand. The club was never able to really build the superstar roster it promised due to the financial limitations. And, after some initial friction with Higuain, Neville ended up getting the best out of him as the Argentine went on one final tear before retiring.

However, the start of the 2023 season went too poorly for Neville to continue. After winning four and losing 11 of the club's first 15 games, Neville was dismissed. He was replaced by ex-MLS midfielder Javier Morales, who has taken over on an interim basis.

GettyTata incoming?

The most immediate link to the Inter Miami job was Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, a manager that is very, very familiar with what Messi brings. Martino managed Messi with both Barcelona and Argentina, giving him both the personal relationship and overall experience of managing arguably the game's biggest star. He's currently out of a job, having left Mexico after a disappointing World Cup group stage exit.

Martino is also an admirer of MLS, having fallen in love with the league during his time with Atlanta United, where he won MLS Cup. “MLS is my weakness,” Martino told earlier this year. “I was part of an extraordinary project with Atlanta United that had a clear direction, a lot of communication and similar objectives that were established very quickly and executed. After coaching in MLS, I became attracted to it. I like the league. The possibility of returning to MLS is always there."

Martino or no Martino, Messi will certainly be given a lot of say in who comes in as the club's next manager.