Playing with Lionel Messi is one thing that each soccer fan desires of – however for Rob Taylor, as soon as of non-League Lincoln City, that dream is a actuality.

The 28-year-old Finland worldwide joined Inter Miami final yr, however absolutely wouldn’t have anticipated to be enjoying alongside the World Cup hero with seven Ballon d’Or trophies.

Taylor and Messi placed on a stellar present as Miami thrashed Atlanta 4-0 final week, netting a few targets every, with Taylor organising the Argentine’s second earlier than scoring a thunderous strike himself.

Naturally, when requested about his new team-mate, Taylor says “it’s a dream come true”.

“I’ve watched him play all my life at the highest level, and now, to play with him and to be in the same team as him is crazy,” the 28-year-old advised Sky Sports.

“You watch him practice and play day by day and attempt to study from him.

“His decision-making is unbelievable – I am unable to see him doing a unsuitable choice in any respect in the course of the sport or coaching, so that you simply need to attempt to study.

“He comes to me and tells me how he wants me positioned in different situations.”

Is Messi studying English?

Messi has hardly ever publicly spoken in a language apart from Spanish, however Taylor has indicated we might hear Messi speaking English quickly.

“I’m taking Spanish lessons and he’s taking English lessons,” stated the Finn, whose father, Paul, was an English participant in Finland.

“Still, the conversation level isn’t great, but, on the field, it’s different.

“I really feel like soccer is a language the place in the event you hyperlink up with somebody, you do not essentially have to talk the identical language – you simply play nicely collectively.

“I’ve heard him say a couple things in English to me and couple of players around him, so I think he speaks pretty good English.”

How does enjoying with Messi change a membership?

The presence of Messi in Miami has injected a brand new lease of life into an already vibrant MLS franchise, and the 21,000-capacity DRV PNK Stadium has twice been offered out as followers come to catch a second of magic.

“Of course, it’s brought a lot of new energy to the team, the club and the fans,” stated Taylor.

“The stadium is sold out, and it’s really great right now.

“We all take pleasure in it [the bigger atmosphere] – everybody needs to play in entrance of as many followers as there may be, so when it is offered out, it is nice.”

On who the coolest person he had met at the Inter Miami matches in the past few weeks, Taylor’s response was not LeBron James, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, IShowSpeed or even DJ Khaled.

“Leo is the coolest,” grinned the Argentine’s fan-come-colleague.

“There’s some celebrities watching but Messi is the No 1.”

While Messi has introduced the power and the eyeballs, issues across the membership are primarily unchanged – though Taylor and his team-mates are grateful for his or her new captain’s arriving present.

“I don’t think there’s too many changes – there’s more security,” stated the 28-year-old.

“But, before the first game, we all got the Dr Dre Beats headphones from him, so that was really nice.”

Dealing with the highlight in Miami

Taylor, who admits he as soon as struggled to get common soccer in England, has seen his celeb develop virtually in a single day, along with his Instagram followers nearing 100,000.

Despite the worldwide highlight shining brighter on him than he might have ever imagined, he says his life has modified “not that much”.

“Maybe my social media has been gaining higher numbers, but I have people around me – my friends and my family – who make sure that I don’t get too high up myself.

“They convey me down and I like that.

“I don’t see it as too big of a change – I just played two games where I’ve scored goals.

“There’s masses extra video games to return so I’ve obtained to maintain my ft on the bottom and work exhausting.”

Messi, Taylor and the rest of Inter Miami take on Orlando on Wednesday in the Leagues Cup, one of two knock-out tournaments in which they compete alongside their MLS campaign.

Miami’s No 16 will hope to continue on his journey from struggling in England to shining with Messi – quite how a “dream come true” can get higher, Taylor will discover out.