MLS urged to ditch Lionel Messi playbook when Argentine GOAT retires - with New York Cosmos chief making youth development plea

Manchester United legend David Beckham added his mass market appeal to MLS ranks when joining the LA Galaxy from Real Madrid in 2007. He was subsequently followed to the States by the likes of Kaka, Steven Gerrard, David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney.

Messi is now the biggest draw, with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner joining Inter Miami co-owner Beckham in South Florida during the summer of 2023. He has helped to deliver historic Leagues Cup, Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup triumphs - while becoming a Golden Boot winner and record-breaking back-to-back MVP.

The Herons have tied their talismanic captain to a contract through 2028, by which point Messi will be 41 and about ready to retire. Inevitable questions are being asked of what happens when that day comes.

When that poser was put to Rossi, who is now vice-chairman and head of soccer at the New York Cosmos, the former MLS star - speaking in association with BetVictor Online Casino - told GOAL: “That's the problem when you try to build from the top down, right? That you have to rely on the Messis, you have to rely on the Beckhams, on the Ibrahimovic, on the [Cristiano] Ronaldo - if Ronaldo decides to come here, you're going to have to rely on that. And therefore, it's never the right way to build something. 

“We shall see what happens post-Messi. Hopefully things are shifting away from a Messi figure or a Ronaldo figure and more into a league that does develop young kids, that does care about the structure of the youth. So we'll only find out after 2028, I guess.”

Ex-Chelsea and Manchester City defender Terry Phelan, who spent time in the U.S. with Charleston Battery during his playing days, believes American soccer will continue to grow once Messi has gone.

He recently told GOAL of the MLS bubble: “I don’t think it bursts. You have had [Didier] Drogba over there, you’ve had Henry, had Beckham over there. It never burst. I think MLS is healthy. Look at the numbers, if you look at the attendances, it’s healthy. They have got the World Cup coming. I think it’s in a healthy state.

“There will always be one or two stars. You might get a [Robert] Lewandowski over there, coming to the end of his career. There are still those players about at the end of their careers that might go over there - like [Luis] Suarez has gone over there at the end of his career. You will always pick somebody up like that who will regenerate and excite the fan base.”

That is a recruitment policy that Inter Miami intend to follow, with the Herons making no secret of the fact that they want to bring more Messi-esque ‘Galacticos’ onto their books. Beckham has said: “We have to always look forward. We also have to have conversations about 'OK, where do we go next. What do we do next? Who do we bring in?' And I think this is a league that really needs stars.”

Managing owner Jorge Mas added: “My first meeting with David, we shared a vision that we just don't want to be another Major League Soccer club. More important to both of us, is that it'd be a global team.

“We're building our Galacticos. We always want to have players to attract global attention. I'd like to think that if we're able to seize the moment, we will be successful and people will always look at this and say, 'Hey the guys at Inter Miami changed Major League Soccer to be one of the best leagues in the world.' But to be able to achieve this, it's about winning.”

That is part of the problem when it comes to Rossi’s goal - the demand in modern sport for immediate results. Few clubs have the time in which to nurture a generation of home-grown stars, but the hope is that a day will come in which domestic talent dominates foreign imports.