Inter Miami owner David Beckham unveils huge mural ahead of Lionel Messi's MLS arrival

David Beckham and Inter Miami are preparing for the arrival of legendary Argentine forward Lionel Messi by having a huge new mural painted to welcome him to MLS

Posted Tuesday, July 11, 2023 by Dailystar.co.uk

David Beckham and Inter Miami are set to welcome Lionel Messi to MLS with a massive mural of the Argentine forward in Wynwood, Miami.

Messi will link up with Inter Miami this week, with his public unveiling set to take place on Sunday. He will make his debut for the MLS side on July 21 in the Leagues Cup.

Taking to Instagram, Beckham's wife, Victoria Beckham, filmed the huge mural of Messi being painted to welcome him to Miami. In the video, David is chatting to a painter in a cherry picker.

Victoria can be heard jokingly saying in her Instagram video: "So I think that David's done a really good job of painting Messi here in Miami. We've only been here a few days but he got straight to it. But look, it's massive. Is there nothing that David Beckham can't do. He's up there, painting away, I'm impressed."

Of course, Beckham was not the man responsibly for painting the gigantic Messi mural. That honour was given to artist Maxi Bagnasco, who revealed he was "all sweaty" when Beckham came up to speak to him.

"Wow, he's a very important person in the world," Bagnasco told CBS News Miami. "He came in and went up with me. I was all sweaty and I had my aerosol sprays. It was an incredible surprise."

And clearly, the Inter Miami owner was left in awe of Bagnasco's work. Appearing again on wife Victoria's Instagram, Beckham looked visibly stunned by the mural in a video she posted to her story.

Messi will make his Inter Miami debut later this month in the Leagues Cup, a tournament that pits MLS teams against Liga MX sides.

On July 21, Inter Miami, now coached by former Barcelona boss Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, will take on Cruz Azul. And Messi will be able to link up with a familiar face in the former of Sergio Busquets who has also joined the MLS side.