Before Lionel Messi, there were 8 other big names in soccer.

There have been a lot of foreign soccer stars in Major League Soccer, but it’s possible that no one has been better than Lionel Messi. After two years at Paris Saint-Germain, the 35-year-old Argentine star wants to join Inter Miami. After rumors that he would go back to his old team, FC Barcelona, Messi said on Wednesday that he will go to the United States instead.

Messi’s move to Inter Miami comes six months after he helped Argentina win the World Cup, which was their first since 1986. This was Messi’s most important goal as a soccer player. Adding that to his record-setting seven FIFA Ballon d’Ors made Messi a strong contender for the title of best soccer player of all time. He had the same kind of success with PSG, where he won Ligue 1 for the second year in a row. But his team did poorly in the Champions League and lost to Bayern Munich in the Round of 16.

Messi will start the next part of his career in the United States. He will join other famous soccer players who took their skills abroad later in their careers. This change doesn’t always lead to success right away. But Messi will be fine, according to what has happened in the past. Here’s a look at how the league went for eight past stars.

David Beckham

When he moved to the LA Galaxy in 2007, the well-known English player was the first big name to join MLS. His choice to leave Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid for a new American league in 2007 was criticized, but it also helped MLS grow by a lot. It made it possible for other stars to do the same thing in the years that followed. The Galaxy’s merchandise sales broke records, and ESPN showed the first game between Chelsea FC and the Galaxy to the whole country.

Beckham played for the Galaxy for five years. During that time, he spent two seasons on loan with the Italian club AC Milan. In 98 games in the MLS, he scored 18 goals and set up 31 more. Before his best year in 2011, when Beckham and the Galaxy won the first of two straight MLS Cups, he was hurt for his first four years in Los Angeles. In 2013, he went back to Europe to finish his career with PSG. He is a co-owner of Inter Miami at the moment.

Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard went from one famous English player to another when he left Liverpool FC after 17 years and joined LA Galaxy in 2015. Gerrard was in the middle of the English Premier League season when the news came out. At the quit of his time at Liverpool, he performed his first recreation.

Gerrard had a quiet two years in Los Angeles, where he played in 34 games. In his first season, he scored two goals and set up three more. For this, he was named an MLS All-Star. After the 2015 season, Gerrard thought about leaving the team, but he stayed for one more year. In 2016, he had three goals and nine helpers before he quit the team.

Henry Thierry

Thierry-Henry — Henry’s time with the New York club was his second-longest with any team.

The French forward’s part was getting smaller at Barcelona, so he signed a multi-year deal with the New York Red Bulls in 2010. Henry played for Arsenal for a short time during the 2011-12 English Premier League season, which took place while the MLS was on break.

Henry’s time with the New York club was his second-longest with any team. He played in 122 games for the Red Bulls. Only in nine seasons with Arsenal did he play in more games. Henry got 51 goals, which is the third-most for this team in its history. He also had 37 assists, which is the most for this team. In 2012, he had 15 goals and 12 assists, and he was a candidate for the Most Valuable Player award in the MLS.

Henry was on the Red Bulls, but they never won the MLS Cup. However, in 2013, they won the Supporters Shield, which is given to the team with the best record. In 2014, Henry stopped playing for the Red Bulls.

Zlatan Ibrahimović

Zlatan-Ibrahimovic — In 2018, the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made the move to the LA Galaxy.

Messi is not the first player to move from Paris Saint-Germain to an MLS team. In 2018, the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovi made the move to the LA Galaxy. He told the people of Los Angeles about his choice in a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times. The ad said, “Dear Los Angeles, you’re welcome.”

Ibrahimovi shook up the league when, in his first game, he came off the bench and scored two goals to help the Galaxy beat their enemy, LAFC. During two seasons, he played 56 games and scored 52 goals. He often said that he was “by far” the best player in MLS. He was an All-Star both years, and while he was with the Galaxy, he scored 500 goals in his career.

The 30 goals he scored in 2019 were the second-most he’s ever scored in a single season. Ibrahimovi was on the Galaxy, but they never won an MLS Cup while he was there. However, his play kept bringing more people to the league. He went back to AC Milan in 2019 and played there for four seasons before quitting on Sunday.

Kaká

Kaka — In 2015, the Brazilian midfield star joined MLS newcomer team Orlando City.

In 2015, the Brazilian midfield star joined MLS newcomer team Orlando City, saying that he wanted to always play in the U.S. Kaká signed a deal worth $6.6 million, which made him the highest-paid MLS player ever at the time. After a long career in Europe and a short time at the club where he grew up in So Paulo, Brazil, he decided to play for Orlando.

During his three years in Orlando, Kaká played in 75 games and scored 24 goals and had 21 assists. Every season, the MLS chose him as an All-Star. During the 2016 season, he had 11 assists, which was his most since the 2004-05 season with AC Milan. With Kaká, Orlando City never made the playoffs. He retired after the 2017 season.

Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard may have had the roughest start of any foreign star who joined MLS. In July 2014, there were reports that Lampard had signed a two-year contract with New York City FC. A month later, New York City’s parent club, Manchester City, said Lampard would be moved to them for six months. Lampard’s deal was extended until the end of the English Premier League season just days before the end of his loan.

Fans were upset by the choice, and MLS said that New York City FC wasn’t being honest. Lampard finally started playing in the MLS in August 2015, and he played in 10 games that year. Fans of New York City booed him in his first game of the 2016 season, which his team lost 7-0. But things quickly got better when Lampard scored 12 goals in 19 games, including the team’s first-ever hat trick. Lampard left New York City in February 2017, two months after the season was over.

Wayne Rooney

The legendary player for Manchester United moved to D.C. United in 2018. Rooney signed a deal with the club for three and a half years. This was the first time he had ever played in a league other than England.

He only played for the team for 2 – years. In 48 games, he scored 23 goals and set up 15 others. During his first season with D.C. United, he scored 12 goals, which won him the club’s MVP award and the Golden Boot. During Rooney’s time there, D.C. United never got past the first round. He quit MLS in 2019, and he will retire with the team he grew up with, Derby County, in 2021.

David Villa

In Spain’s top league, Villa played for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for 11 years. In 2014, he joined the newly formed New York City FC. Villa said that he was moving because he wanted to help MLS grow. He called it a “irresistible project.”

During his four years with New York, he was unbeatable. He scored 77 goals and had 20 helpers. Every season, Villa was an All-Star, and in 2016, he won the MLS Most Valuable Player award. In two seasons, he scored at least 20 goals, and in 2017, he was second in the race for the Golden Boot. In 2018, he scored his 400th goal for New York City. In that same year, he left the club for Vissel Kobe in Japan, and he will retire in early 2020.

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