Inter Miami have released a promotional clip teasing Lionel Messi's arrival.
MLS franchise Inter Miami have teased Lionel Messi's arrival through a viral promotional clip on social media hours before the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is officially unveiled as their newest player.
Messi revealed his decision to join the David Beckham co-owned club to Catalan newspapers SPORT and Mundo Deportivo in the first week of June.
By doing this, he turned down approaches from the outfit he is most commonly associated with, ex-employers FC Barcelona, and Al-Hilal in the Saudi Arabia who were ready to pay him a reported €500 million ($562 million) a year.
If accepted, the Al-Hilal deal would have easily had Messi knock generational rival Cristiano Ronaldo, now at Al-Nassr, off the top of Forbes' list of the World's Highest-Paid Athletes in 2024.
Instead, however, Messi opted for an arrangement that will pay him between $50 and $60 million a year in Florida, as confirmed by Beckham's parnter Jorge Mas. According to outlets such as The Athletic, though, Messi can boost his earnings in the US by potential profit share partnerships with Apple
Messi is still yet to link up with his new team but will be officially unveiled at their DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday evening with ex-Barca colleague and close friend Sergio Busquets who will also continue his career in Fort Lauderdale.
Some four hours before the event, named 'The Unveil', Inter Miami released a 40-second clip which had already been enjoyed by close to three million Twitter users less than 60 minutes after being uploaded.
Captioned "Si, muchachos" with a location pin, the clip takes place in an empty DRV PNK Stadium which is floodlit at night.
A hooded figure dressed in all black, and donning Adidas footwear, enters shot with his back to the camera and puts down a brown paper bag on the turf while whistling.
He takes out a can of spray paint, which he checks has much-needed pink matter by pushing down on the actuator.
Then heading to a huge black board, the individual graffitis what is revealed to be Messi's name.
After an LCD screen lights up in the stadium, its name appears after the word 'Miami' shows up on the shoulders of the graffiti artist's hoodie.
As we head through the screen towards the Miami skyline, Messi is shown with his back to his in a pink Inter shirt bearing his name and number 10.
Turning to the camera and folding his arms, Messi says in Spanish: "Yes, boys. We'll see each other in Miami" before the clip ends.
'The Unveil' will take place at 18.00 in the DRV PNK Stadium and tickets have been sold for a reasonable $30 to fans aiming to get a glimps of Messi donning Miami's shirt in public for the first time.