Messi to Inter Miami is OFFICIAL! Beckham's MLS team confirm signing of icon

Inter Miami has finally announced the signing of Lionel Messi to confirm the worst-kept secret in Major League Soccer.

Messi, considered one of the greatest players of all time, has signed with the club following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain.

His arrival represents a major coup for David Beckham's Miami and for MLS, with Messi's arrival expected to take the sport to new heights in the United States.

The 36-year-old, a World Cup winner with Argentina, announced his move to MLS last month.

He turned down a more lucrative offer from Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, while a return to boyhood club Barcelona proved financially impossible.

Messi, who won four Champions League titles with Barca and scored 672 goals in 778 games for the club, is believed to have been offered a $60million-a-year contract by Inter Miami that includes new deals with adidas and Apple.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner will bank money from adidas shirt sales and Apple MLS subscriptions, while the deal is also said to include an option that could see him become a part-owner of the club.

Messi will work under Gerardo 'Tata' Martino in Miami, having previously played under the veteran coach for Barca and the Argentina national team.

Former teammate Sergio Busquets has already followed Messi to Miami, with both expected to be unveiled on Sunday, while Jordi Alba is reportedly close to joining the MLS outfit, too.

Messi is expected to make his debut on July 21, when Inter Miami takes on Mexican outfit Cruz Azul.

Supporters will be hoping Messi and Busquets can then help transform the team's fortunes in Major League Soccer.

Miami currently sits bottom of the Eastern Conference, with just 18 points through 21 games.

That record leaves them 11 points adrift of the last playoff spot, with Messi set to be available for the final 12 regular season matches.

Miami twice blew a lead in its most recent MLS match, against Wayne Rooney's DC United team on Saturday night, to extend its winless streak to 10 games.

Nigel Robertha's 77th-minute goal prevented Miami from picking up a vital win. Inter has now drawn three in a row since Martino's hiring was announced.

In New York, 1,300 miles away from Messi's new home in Florida, the windows of adidas' flagship store were filled with mock-ups of MLS' biggest star before the move became official.

In pictures taken by DailyMail.com, the sportswear giant's Broadway venue is covered in pictures of Messi wearing his new Inter Miami strip, before he has even pulled it on himself.

Beckham, meanwhile, was recently filmed standing on a crane, painting a huge mural of Messi on a side of a building in Miami.

Messi has been enjoying a vacation ahead of his arrival in Miami, winding down in the Caribbean with his wife Antonela, before he begins his new life in MLS.

There have been some suggestions that the 36-year-old could - even should - be given special treatment from officials.

One MLS coach told The Athletic that the Argentine should 'get the (Michael) Jordan treatment. (He) should get every single call.'

But any 'Jordan treatment' could lead to MLS teams implementing their own version of the 'Jordan rules', which saw the Detroit Pistons conclude in the late 1980s and early 1990s that the best way to defend Jordan was to injure him and take him out of the game.

Meanwhile, Robert Sibiga, the 2021 MLS Referee of the Year, said: 'This is not the level of David Beckham, or Zlatan (Ibrahimovic). This is a different level.'

He added: 'The last thing you want to be is to be seen screwing up the game or allowing players who have way less talent and experience to do something to a player like Lionel Messi.'