Victoria Beckham is the ‘brains’ behind David Beckham’s off-field success, says Karren Brady, as she credits Inter Miami co-owner for ‘start of a US soccer surge’ with Lionel Messi signing

Karren Brady believes Victoria Beckham is the ‘brain’ behind her husband David Beckham’s off-field success, with the former England captain thriving as part-owner of Inter Miami.

The ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid star was instrumental in bringing Lionel Messi to Miami, a move that has paid off so far and seen the club clinch the League Cup title.

However, West Ham vice-chairman Brady thinks Beckham got a big hand from Victoria in his post-playing career.

“Beckham missed a few chances on the pitch, but hardly any business,” she wrote in her column The sun.

“I have long suspected that his wife – former Spice Girl Victoria – played a big part in his success off the field.

“He’s got the smile, she’s got the brains.”

Lionel Messi has set the US on fire since joining Inter Miami, with 11 goals in 10 games so far

Karren Brady has credited Victoria Beckham for her husband’s success off the field

Earlier this summer, Beckham explained how he and managing owner Jorge Mas “demolished” a Barcelona hotel in 2019 to meet Messi’s father, Jorge.

“We snuck into a hotel, met Jorge Messi and started the conversation,” Beckham said The Athletics. “It was purely about, ‘We would love for your son to play for our team one day. We know he can’t come yet, but one day we would love to have Leo in Miami.”

Beckham even revealed in the same article that Messi’s arrival was a decade in the making.

“It all came from a conversation over a glass of wine over dinner,” he said.

“I turn to Jorge (Mas) and say: ‘One day we need Messi to come to our club’. It was probably when we first met.

“I recently found on my phone one of the first presentations that (ad agency) Doubleday & Cartwright did: they made a mock-up of one of the jerseys with the logo on it and Leo wore it. That was 10 years ago. So it was always on my mind.

“I suppose every sports franchise owner thinks: ‘We want to bring the best players to our club’. Does it happen to everyone? Of course not. But we were having dinner and we were like, ‘Okay, if we could take Leo for our market, for our fans, for this part of the world, there’s no one better.’

Messi was unveiled in July alongside Beckham, Jorge Mas (left) and Jose R. Mas

Results so far have been outstanding, with a previously struggling Miami side going 10 games unbeaten since Messi’s debut. The number 10 already has eleven goals for the club.

Interest in seeing the World Cup winner has unsurprisingly been huge, with ticket prices for this weekend’s game at LAFC starting at a whopping $727.

Ultimately, the early returns of the Messi era have been extremely promising, and Brady thinks Beckham can lead even more football growth in the US.

“I’m sure this is the beginning of an American football wave, but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” she said. “If anyone can do it, I’m sure David Beck-ham can.”