HEAD COACH OF MINNESOTA UNITED SINCE 2016

Steve Bates

MINNESOTA BOSS Adrian Heath says David Beckham’s Inter Miami will follow the Manchester City fast-track to success – with a cash-driven blitz of the MLS.

Former Everton striker Heath has been in American football since 2008, and has managed Orlando City as well as his current side Minnesota United.

But he cannot remember more hype, expectation and excitement around a new MLS season since arriving in the USA – with Beckham’s Miami franchise set to change the landscape in America.

Billionaires

Beckham’s Eastern Conference side kick-off their inaugural season with a trip to Los Angeles FC a week today.

And while Inter Miami might only be in its infancy, Heath can already see that the game-plan of Beckham and his big-money backers is in full swing.

“The people involved in Miami are billionaires,” said Heath. “They aren’t going to dip their toe in the water and see how it goes – they are going to try and do a Manchester City and throw all their financial muscle at it to make sure they get where they want to get as fast as possible.

“They are building an incredible new stadium in Miami but that’s not ready, so they’ve built a 20,000 seater arena in Fort Lauderdale to start off with – they plan to give that to their second team when the main stadium is done.

“They’ve spent close to £45million on a training complex too, which by all accounts is absolutely fantastic. I know someone who has been in it and he said it’s incredible.

“Going forward that’s going to help when they come to recruit really bigname stars from the Premier League and Europe.

“There’s a salary cap here of course, with stricter and clearer guidelines than those which exists with Europe’s Financial Fair Play, but on top of the infrastructure they have also spent over £20m on their two Designated Players .

“They’ve signed Mexico star Rodolfo Pizarro, an attacking midfield player, and Matias Pellegrini, a really promising Argentine teenage midfielder from Estudiantes. That’s a statement in itself, and there will be much bigger names to come.

“It already says they are serious about establishing themselves as a major force, just like Atlanta United did when they joined the MLS.

“Atlanta spent big money too – but the difference with Miami is that they are in an iconic city and Beckham is the front man... so the potential is massive.

“That’s why there is so much hype around the new season. We all know that when David Beckham goes into something his success rate is good.

“Beckham and Jorge Mas, the billionaire Miami businessman backing him, have recruited top people in the key management positions, much the same as Man City did. And I’m sure

Miami’s plans for the future are just as ambitious as City’s were.

“But I was in at the start with Orlando when we went into the MLS and it’s not easy. At least with Orlando we had started in the United Soccer League, so we already existed as a team.

Potential

“The hard part for David and his team is that they are coming in cold.

“No one has seen them play and they aren’t even going to be playing in Miami itself to start with – they are at least an hour or more away.

“They could have a Fort Lauderdale fan base at the start. But when they move to the main stadium will those fans go with them?

“Miami has a lot of other attractions and it hasn’t a great history of sports fans supporting teams, so it could backfire.”

Heath is certain their MLS rivals will be gunning for Miami too – to cut the new boys down to size.

He said: “No doubt they’ll be a scalp. People will want to knock Inter Miami off their pedestal before they’ve even had a chance to get on it.”