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Washington, D.C. -- Success in sports can be measured in many ways and you'll never find a higher stakes example of that than Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami. Wins and losses are a clear metric as well as silverware but in team sports, sometimes that isn't the case especially when a player move can be a seismic one even on a bad team. This is where Miami fit in as they will be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference when Messi takes the pitch with his debut, expected to be on Friday in Leagues Cup against Cruz Azul.

Joining after scoring 16 goals and assisting 16 more for PSG last season en route to winning the Ligue 1 title and after also winning the World Cup with Argentina, there's no question on if Messi can produce within MLS. It's a league that favors attacking players and even as Messi ages, his vision and mind for how things develop in front of him will ensure that he is able to create chances and score goals as long as he'd like to. 

Due to the Herons being 12 points off of a playoff place, there's a chance not only that Messi's inaugural season could end without a trophy to show for it but it could also end without the team even making the playoffs. Because of that, at least for this season, Messi's arrival can't be judged solely on how many wins he leads the team to.

Changes are already happening with DRV PNK Stadium expanding, ticket sales increasing and Miami jerseys with Messi's name needing to be preordered online to keep up with the demand, but that's also not how this can be measured which is something that league commissioner Don Garber touched on speaking to media during MLS All-Star Game festivities on Wednesday.

"The real success factor is not about how does it translate in ticket sales, how does it translate in the audience but how does it really speak to the reputation of the league? That's what we're all working hard and have worked hard on for so long to create. We want him to have a good experience," Garber said about Messi's signing.

"I was at the event [of Messi's unveiling] a couple of nights ago and my great moment was not the pictures and the unveiling, it was watching Lionel by himself standing there, looking out at the crowd and nodding his head and then walking out and kicking the ball around with his kids. We want him to feel like he's part of the MLS family..."

If Messi is able to feel at home in Miami, there will be no better way for the league to be viewed in a better light by his easily viewable comfort. Garber mentioned that one day players like Declan Rice could make transfers to Major League Soccer instead of Arsenal and acclimation is where Messi's addition can truly throw the league into a new dimension. 

Not every big signing is guaranteed to be a success but even looking at two mega signings last season, the difference is clear. Gareth Bale joined LAFC and while he wasn't extremely successful on the pitch, he scored a critical goal to help the Black and Gold lift MLS Cup and has also been a good ambassador. But in Toronto, Lorenzo Insigne's signing couldn't have gotten off to a worst start with injuries and inconsistency.

Expectations were high for Insigne as the most expensive signing in league history before Messi's arrival. He had a similar responsibility of improving a Toronto FC side that were at the bottom of the league as well. So far, that hasn't happened with Toronto still near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Bob Bradley being fired and additional noise off the pitch as well with players-only meetings and disagreements with the direction of the club.

While some of Insigne's concerns were valid with how Toronto have performed, that's where Messi can't become bigger than Miami as there's a balance to be struck. Messi and Inter Miami can form a partnership that can be fruitful for both sides if Messi is to embrace the league as a whole and buy into the vision that is being built.

"We haven't even seen it yet. What we're seeing is still MLS and its regular works. The Messi effect will happen after. It's not going to happen until next year when you see the true vision of players saying, 'Yeah, I'm coming,'" former LA Galaxy and U.S. national team midfielder Cobi Jones told CBS Sports.

"This turns everything on its head where you're going to have another level. As it was David Beckham who started that first wave of players and international players who said, 'Hey I'm going to start coming again.' This is going to happen again on another level with Messi."

It was a long game to recruit Messi to the league over lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia and it'll be an even longer one to make this move successful. At the moment, the right steps are being put in place but only time will tell how things go. If Miami continue losing games after Messi joins, that's where we'll begin to find out the true staying power of the move but Messi could become an ambassador to truly launch MLS forward to its ultimate goal of being considered one of the best leagues in the world.