sport news As Lionel Messi tries to break America, who else has crossed the pond and ... trends now
Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami has the potential to be one of the most seismic sports acquisitions in America's long athletic history.
With Messi agreeing to join David Beckham's MLS team, the reigning World Cup champion is making the trip many aging European stars have before.
In doing so, he has turned down hundreds of millions from Saudi Arabia and a romantic return to Barcelona, instead opting for a 'quieter life' for his family, in his $9million South Florida condo.
On a wider scale, the move will hugely boost the profile of American soccer, and could prove vital in dispelling the constant and incorrect belief that the sport lacks quality in the United States.
In the immediate future, Messi's move to the Sunshine State should buoy the spirits of supporters of Inter Miami - a team sitting in the bottom of Major League Soccer's standings.
Lionel Messi has officially joined Inter Miami after departing Paris Saint-Germain
The World Cup winner has the potential to be the biggest foreign signing in US sports history
The club recently sacked their manager, Phil Neville, after a string of poor performances in league play.
But this transfer has the chance to take the sport to further heights within the United States as so many athletes have done before. Now, Messi has the chance to make his mark on American sports like no other foreign sportsman ever has - but he should take note of the precedent set by those who have made this journey before him.
Here, Mail Sport takes a look at the other top sports stars who have trodden a similar path and made a name for themselves in the USA.
Pele
There's no better place to start than with the man who kicked off America's slow roll back towards becoming a soccer country.
Soccer's long civil war in the United States in the early 1920s saw the sport fall out of favor nationally.
But, the arrival of Pele in the original North American Soccer League sparked a growing interest in 'football' in the USA.
Sure, the New York Cosmos would team Pele up with the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto. Sure, the league would go on to bring in names like Johan Cruyff, Gerd Muller, Bobby Moore, Eusebio, and George Best to other teams.
But none of them had such an impact on the growth of the sport as Pele did.
From 1975-1977 his impact on NASL brought in more eyeballs than it ever could have before.
Pele's arrival on the United States soccer scene was the catalyst to the sport's growth
Were it not for Pele showing soccer could be viable, MLS may not be as big as it currently is
An NASL Playoff match in 1977 still holds the record for the highest attended non-regular-season American soccer fixture as 77,691 watched Pele's Cosmos defeat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3.
Even after retiring, Pele's impact on the sport in the country remained and helped get the ball rolling for the US to invest more into its national team.
Eventually, the USA won the rights to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup and two years after that, MLS played its first season.
It could be argued that without Pele, the sport would not have the same impact nationally that it does today.
Lewis Hamilton
Formula One's growth in the United States in recent years can be credited to a number of things. Racing's sustained popularity in the country was combined with a declining interest in NASCAR. Add in the impact of Drive to Survive and the marketing of American-based Liberty Media, and you've got a perfect storm.
At the center of that storm was Lewis Hamilton, who was on his way to becoming the sport's most statistically successful driver.
As the sport's first black driver, Hamilton has made in-roads into American society in more areas than just his motorsport endeavors.
Outside of his highly successful racing career - which has seen Hamilton win the most United States Grand Prix races of any driver (6) - his celebrity has seen him break into the world of fashion, business, and even Hollywood.
On top of all of that, Hamilton has purchased a house in Colorado and even has a minority share in the NFL's Denver Broncos - ensuring that he'll be in the United States for years to come.
Lewis Hamilton's global popularity has seen him make inroads into United States society
As the era of Tiger Woods' dominance faded, Rory McIlroy slowly became one of the most influential and popular golfers on the PGA Tour.
Since his pro debut at the 2007 Open Championship, McIlroy has recorded 23 PGA Tour victories - with his very first victory coming at the
