Lionel Messi was finally unveiled in front of a sell-out crowd at Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium as fans flocked to Florida to witness the presentation ceremony of the ‘best number 10 in the world’.
The official Twitter handle of Major League Soccer (MLS) shared a video which showed the announcer calling Messi ‘America’s number 10’ and the best in the world to a huge roar from the crowd as Messi walked out in front of the Inter Miami fans for the first time.
The 36-year-old was officially presented as an Inter Miami player on Monday morning with club co-owners Jose R Mas, Jorge Mas and David Beckham standing on a podium to welcome Messi.
The Argentine World Cup winner was presented with his number 10 shirt, and he subsequently thanked the crowd saying that he was looking forward to experiencing ‘great things’ with the new project.
Bienvenido a nuestra familia💗🖤 pic.twitter.com/k7VOSGo1lv— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 17, 2023
“I want to thank all the people in Miami for this welcome, this affection since I arrived here. I am very excited to be with you. I want to thank Jose, Jorge, and David for this recognition, for making everything easy, and for making us feel at home. I really want to start training, and competing, I really want to win and for this club to keep growing," said Messi in his welcome speech.
“I hope that throughout the tournament you will continue to accompany us. Personally, I believe that my teammates are going to give everything to build this project and I am very happy to have chosen this city, to have chosen this project and I have no doubt that we are going to have a great time and we are going to experience very nice things," the 7 time Ballon d’Or winner added.
“Vamos a disfrutar mucho, la vamos a pasar bien y van a pasar cosas lindas." - Leo Messi pic.twitter.com/zEhzbnugXG— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 17, 2023
Messi put pen to paper on a highly lucrative deal until the end of the 2025 season following the expiry of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer.
The legendary star forward has a big task at hand as Inter Miami are currently languishing at the bottom of MLS’ eastern conference, winless in their past 11 matches.
It has been reported that Messi could make his debut in the Leagues Cup clash against Liga MX side Cruz Azul on July 21, followed by his MLS debut at a later date.