Lionel Messi is coming to MLS, and is instantly the league’s biggest-ever signing.
MLS history is littered with big global names, icons at the world’s biggest clubs, as well as lower-profile signings that changed the landscape of the league in ways over the years and even decades to follow their arrival.
Still, not even David Beckham — who is part-owner of Inter Miami, the club that Messi will be suiting up for in the near future — can match the global phenomenon that is Messi. The Argentina superstar, fresh off winning the 2022 World Cup, will transform the entire league, with commissioner Don Garber going so far as to say Messi could be the biggest athlete in U.S. sporting history. The stakes are that high.
It’s not like Messi is the first huge signing for MLS, though. Here are the top 10 additions to the league in its 28-year history.