LIONEL MESSI PICTURE SPECIAL: El Clasico hat-trick, Champions League glory and biggest prize of all

Lionel Messi is poised to begin the next chapter of his iconic career as he gears up for his grand arrival in Miami this weekend.

Messi, regarded by many as the greatest player in soccer history, is set to be unveiled by Inter Miami on Sunday after waving goodbye to French team Paris Saint-Germain and signing with David Beckham's franchise.

For Beckham and Miami, there are few bigger stars on the planet they could have attracted to Florida than the Argentine, who has claimed a record seven Ballon d'Or awards along with every major trophy there is to win at club and international level.

Most of those prizes came during his legendary stint with Barcelona, where he scored an eye-watering 672 goals in 778 appearances to help the Spanish club win 10 league championships and four Champions League titles.

Messi shattered record after record at Barca, becoming their all-time leading scorer at the age of just 24 - and going on to score almost three times as many goals as previous holder Cesar Rodriguez (232) - while registering the most goals in a calendar year for club and country with an astonishing 91 in 2012.

And following a long and, at times, frustrating international career with Argentina, he finally led his country to glory by winning the Copa America in 2021, before going one better and captaining them to a first World Cup since 1986 last December.

Since joining PSG two years ago, Messi has not lived up to his typically-freakish standards in club soccer, producing just 32 goals in 75 games and failing to get past the last-16 stage of the Champions League.

Nevertheless, despite his recent woes there is no disputing the caliber of player Miami will be welcoming to the DRV PNK Stadium this weekend.

And ahead of his Inter