Shortly after watching his team defeat Inter Miami CF, 3-1, New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena speculated on how different Saturday's Matchday 18 game might've turned out had a certain Argentine legend played.

"If Lionel\] Messi was on the field tonight, it would've been a real challenge for us," Arena said of the former FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain superstar who [this week announced his intention to join the Herons.

"We don’t have to play him anymore [for the remainder of the regular season], so it's good for us."

Joking or not, Arena was relieved to see the Revs get their first win in over a month – led by a 1g/2a performance from 2021 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Carles Gil – amid a slew of injuries.

While it did come at the expense of a club that's struggling for results, MLS's all-time winningest coach is convinced Miami will be more than OK should they end up signing the 2022 FIFA World Cup champion and seven-time Ballon d'Or recipient.

"They're gonna be fine. Messi's gonna win games," Arena said.

Beckham vs. Messi

As someone who coached Major League Soccer's biggest-ever signing to date, David Beckham, to his greatest heights in the league, Arena believes Saturday's opponents are still in an enviable position. This, despite Inter Miami suffering through a six-game losing streak that cost head coach Phil Neville his job and sunk the Herons to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

"It's not gonna be easy for Miami. But Miami has a better roster now than I had in LA coming in in 2008," said the three-time MLS Cup winner (2011, '12, '14) with the Galaxy.

"We brought in 19 new players the following year [2009] and made it to the MLS Cup Final," Arena said of the massive rebuild that took place during his reign in LA. "And then we obviously got a little bit better and all of that."

Arena is convinced Miami's path to success is far simpler, given the depth of their squad and the all-but-certain arrival of one of soccer's all-time greatest players.

"He's gonna have a tremendous impact for that team, for that city and the league. And that has to be good," said the former US men's national team boss, with Messi's announcement leading to other big-name stars getting linked to MLS.

Arena had special praise for Beckham, his former player and current Miami co-owner who's helped sway Messi to South Florida after a long courtship with the Argentine superstar.

"What's special is that Beckham was able to attract Messi to his club. They worked on him for a couple of years," said Arena.

If and when the expected happens and La Pulga becomes an Inter Miami player, Arena is excited for whatever follows.

"Messi's a good story," he stated. "Why would you think otherwise?"