Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been linked to play in the Major League Soccer (MLS) in some part of their career. The Barcelona and Juventus pair, two of the best footballers to have played the game, reportedly see the United States as one future option should they leave their current club and new MLS franchise Inter Miami appears to be their destination. Inter Miami, co-owner David Beckham, whose team begin their MLS journey this Sunday with a trip to Los Angeles   Galaxy, also hinted in bringing the two football giants to his club one day ahead of his side’s Major League Soccer debut. Ronaldo has two years remaining at Juventus while Messi, whose contract at Barcelona ends next summer, has been rumoured with a move away from Spain. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi Could Join David Beckham’s Inter Miami, Says Major League Soccer (MLS) Manager Adrian Heath.

Both Ronaldo and Messi are approaching their twilight years in football and although they remain the best among all, that streak will not last forever and both will have to bid goodbye to the elite football sometime in their career. Both the players also failed to inspire their side to away wins in the 1st leg of their respective 2019-20 Champions League round of 16 encounters. Barcelona somehow scraped to a 1-1 draw at Napoli, while Ronaldo’s Juventus were beaten 0-1 in Lyon.

Asked about the ambitions of his new franchise, Beckham who in 2009 made a sensational move from Real Madrid to the MLS, hinted about the possibility of building his own set of Galacticos on the south beach of Miami. Beckham, who moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2003, was one of the first set of Galactico signing by club president Florentino Perez. And from what he said at the Jimmy Falcon show, Beckham's Miami could land some superstar names in the future, including Messi and Ronaldo.

“We really believe in the roster we have, the players that we have we’re really happy with but we have also talked about if we have the opportunity to bring in big-name players from Europe into our city we will do that,” Beckham was quoted as saying by The Independent. “Every team in the world would want Messi and Ronaldo in their teams,” he added. But we always talked about us being different from any other team, which I am sure every other owner says exactly the same thing.”

“So that’s what we will try to do and if we have the opportunity to bring big name players in then great we’re lucky we have an ownership group that has that vision and wants to succeed and has that competitiveness where we want the best players,” said the English legend.

Messi, ever since his public showdown with Barcelona club technical director Eric Abidal, has been speculated to be looking for options elsewhere. Although the Argentine’s contract expires in 2021, Messi has an interesting clause is the agreement that allows him to leave the club for free at the end of each season. Manchester City were set to be his prime destination but that since been wiped off ever since the Premier League were punished with a two-year Champions League ban for breaching the financial fair-play regulations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 27, 2020 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).