David Beckham is set to bring a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise to Miami, making the football superstar the first former MLS player to own a team in the league.

Exercising his contractual rights with LA Galaxy to buy an expansion franchise, the team which currently has no name is set to make a 25,000-seat stadium in the Overtown neighbourhood its home.

A lengthy process to complete the deal has seen an enormous amount of work going into building the foundations of the new club, having originally struggled to find suitable land to host the stadium. Beckham said: “I joined the Galaxy because I realised the long-term potential in this league. I moved from Real Madrid to a league that wasn’t fully established yet. That was a big move and one I knew was going to be a big challenge, but an exciting challenge.”

Combining Beckham’s fan base and the success of the MLS, the opportunity is bigger than ever before to grow the league alongside plans to increase the total number of teams to 28. Beckham added: “Commissioner Garber came to me and sat down and explained the plan of this league and where he wanted to take it. I was in from day one.”

The footballer who found success in multiple leagues will now use his impressive career in the sport to identify new talent for Miami. He said: “We keep talking about building this state-of-the-art academy in Miami, because we have a hotbed of talent in young kids here and I believe if we build the right facilities, if we bring the right coaches, then we have a chance of bringing home-grown talent into this team.”

However, while he knows the sport from the player’s perspective, Beckham has no immediate plans to become manager. Beckham concluded: “Player recruitment will be one of my roles in the ownership group. Management has never been something that I’ve felt passionate about doing.”