Lionel Messi attempted to persuade the Manchester United cult legend to join Inter Miami.

A former United defender was approached by the greatest of all time, but he was unable to join him at David Beckham’s MLS team.
Refusing a request from Lionel Messi is a difficult thing to do, but one former Manchester United defender managed it.

With eight Ballon d’Or awards under his belt, the 36-year-old has solidified his status as one of the best football players of all time, if not the greatest of all time.

Messi, who came up via Barcelona’s youth program, won four Champions League wins and ten La Liga titles before leaving in 2021.

Messi then joined Paris Saint-Germain, one of the biggest teams in France. During his two seasons there, he won two Ligue 1 titles.

Messi traveled to the United States last summer to join David Beckham.

Messi continues to have success in the later phases of his playing career and has already won trophies with the MLS team, including the 2023 Leagues Cup.

Messi has reconnected with a number of his former Barcelona teammates at Inter Miami, including Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets.

The Argentina international seems to have also made an effort to entice several of his international teammates—including Marcos Rojo, a former United defender—to play with him at the club level.

For £16 million, the defender left Sporting Lisbon to join United in 2014.

Rojo scored twice in 122 games for United, having been brought to the club by Louis Van Gaal, and won the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League during his time at Old Trafford.

After a loan spell with Estudiantes, Rojo departed United permanently in 2021 to head to Boca Juniors, where he currently plays his football.

But Rojo revealed Messi tried to convince him to come to Inter Miami, but he opted to remain at Juan Roman Riquelme’s side.

Speaking to Radio La Red, Rojo said: “Leo called me, it’s not like it was just anyone or an intermediary, no one. I spoke with Leo Messi, who told me about the possibility of going to Inter. Imagine what that means for any footballer.

“The truth is I was not convinced to leave Boca, I had recently renewed. The only thing I did was communicate with Roman to tell him about the situation and to tell him that if he needed me here I was going to stay.

“I didn’t want to go, and I wasn’t persuaded to leave either. I was completely persuaded to stay in Boca if he informed me that he wanted me here for this year, and I want to keep doing so.”