Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets have both got down to business with their new Inter Miami team-mates on Tuesday, taking part in their first full training session with the Major League Soccer club.
The former Barcelona players took to the club’s training field at 9am local time with temperatures already above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
Over 200 media representatives attended the session in sharp contrast to Miami’s training sessions that had barely attracted double figure attendance from the media prior to the duo’s arrival.
Messi and Busquets had been unveiled to the club’s supporters at the stadium on Sunday at a celebratory event alongside Miami co-owner David Beckham and his first game is scheduled for Friday.
Miami, who are ranked last in the 29-team MLS, face Mexican club Cruz Azul in the opening game of the new Leagues Cup, a tournament style competition featuring all top flight teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.
It is not clear yet if either Messi or Busquets will start that game or make a cameo appearance from the substitute’s bench,
Unlike in most of Europe, MLS’s season runs from late February to the end of October, followed by the playoffs and the championship game, MLS Cup, on December 9.
Despite sitting rock bottom of the Eastern Conference with the worst recording in the league, Miami are not mathematically ruled out of contention for the playoffs but it would take a huge impact from both ex-Barca stars to turn their season around.
