Nepotism at Inter Miami – a hindrance or the way forward for the struggling franchise?

Recently David Beckham’s son Romeo Beckham made his professional debut for Fort Lauderdale CF – part of his father’s MLS franchise Inter Miami.

He played alongside Harvey Neville, the son of Phil Neville’s, MLS’ head coach in a stunning example of nepotism.

Their performances were ok, but Romeo was substituted with 11 minutes left after a relatively underwhelming debut.

Beckham’s Buddies

When Inter Miami was first created, we all suspected that a key to its potential success was the lure of its big-name co-owner.

James Rodriguez, Edison Cavani even Lionel Messi were all rumoured to be interested in a move to the club.

In the end, it was Ex-Real Madrid and Juventus centre Forward, Gonzalo Higuaín and World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi who captured the headlines when they made the journey across the pond. At 33 and 34 respectively neither player can be described as in their prime, but they were still big-name signings.

Gonzalo Higuaín began his career at Inter Miami in disastrous fashion, missing a penalty and then starting a brawl. However, since he shaved his head and grew one of the most impressive beards in MLS history his form has dramatically improved.

The sunny, warm climate and large Hispanic population in Miami have been raised as reasons why Latin soccer players like Higuaín and potentially Messi or Rodriguez will be interested in the club, but there is no doubt that the big-name owner made all the difference in luring the two stars to the MLS. There are plenty of other more established clubs in the league that they could have chosen.

But the question is has this gone too far? With a younger Neville and Beckham playing in the reserve team, is this really becoming a club of Beckham’s friends and family?

Harvey Neville

Neville is a right-back who can also play in defensive midfield, and no one can argue that he doesn’t come from good stock. His father Phil Neville is an ex-Man Utd and Everton player, his uncle Gary Neville is an eight-time Premier League and two-time Champions League winner; even his grandad Neville Neville is an ex-cricketer.

Harvey started in the Man Utd youth system before moving to Man City and then Valencia where his father had also been an assistant manager. Little can be found online about the player apart from a few clips showing an impressive set of skills during his time at the Spanish Club.

However, since his move to Fort Lauderdale CF, he seems to have made a real impact with 16 appearances to date and an impressive 5 yellow cards indicating a combative defensive style similar to his Dads. He is also a regular starter in the team clocking 1,365 minutes of soccer in total.

It seems the player, who has also played at youth level for Ireland, may just be a real talent.

Romeo Beckham

Romeo’s appearance for Inter Miami seems a little less convincing with the 19-year-old not being connected to any professional club before Fort Lauderdale. He has various clips on his social media of him practising with his Dad, but no sign of any professional contract.

In his debut, he put in one decent cross, reminiscent of his father’s curved balls from the right-wing. The attacker put the ball wide; it was a nice move but unfortunately, that was all the youngster showed on his first match before being withdrawn before the 90 minutes were up.

It is still early days and we still wish the young player the best, but starting a 19-year-old with no previous links to a professional club is a sign that nepotism is rife at the Miami-based club.

Inter Miami

This season has not gone well for Inter Miami with the team ninth in the Eastern Conference. They have been on a particularly bad run of form recently losing 1-5 to Nashville and 0-4 to the NY Red Bulls. Online sportsbooks currently have the club as the twenty-first favorite to win the MLS Cup this year.