Lionel Messi will not find the MLS to be a walk in the park.

Messi is set to begin his journey in North America soon as he officially signed with Inter Miami on Saturday. He will be  unveiled by the club at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday and could make his debut later this month at the Leagues Cup.

For many in Europe, the perception of the MLS is that it's a retirement league for the very best players to play in once they're past their prime and looking for a nice payday.

Rooney knows a thing or two about that.

After a 14-year career with Manchester United, the Englishman signed with DC United and enjoyed a two-year spell from 2018 to 2020 where he scored 25 goals in 52 games. Fast forward to 2023 and Rooney is now DC United manager.

And while the general belief is that Messi will run rampant in the MLS, Rooney believes he won't find it easy — even with the former having all his previous manager and teammates such as Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez with him.

“Everything is set for him,” Rooney said. “He's got all his mates over! [Sergio] Busquets and Jordi Alba have signed for Inter Miami and maybe [Andres] Iniesta will join them. Luis Suarez too. Messi has a coach [Inter Miami manager Tata Martino] he likes and trusts. It's huge, especially with what's going on in Saudi, for the MLS to attract Messi.

“He won't find it easy here. It sounds mad, but players who come in find it's a tough league. The travelling, the different conditions in different cities, and there's a lot of energy and intensity on the pitch.”

It's certainly a fair point and one can expect Messi to take time to get acclimated. After all, his debut season with PSG wasn't the best by his standards before he showed a significant improvement during the 2022/23 season.

However, there were other factors at play for his less-than-stellar debut year such as his lack of a preseason and let's not forget — the overall level at Ligue 1 is still higher than the MLS.

The World Cup winner is arguably the greatest player of all time and has shown that even at 36 years of age, he can play at the very highest level.

Perhaps Messi will find it easy in the end?