David Beckham says many players he knows from his career have already reached out to him to express interest in playing for his new Miami team.
Major League Soccer officially awarded Beckham and his partners an expansion franchise in January, nearly four years after the former England star first announced plans to start a team in south Florida.
Beckham returned to Miami this week for planning meetings, and though he says it's a too early to start planning a squad for a team that won't play before 2020 at the earliest, he's still been getting plenty of phone calls.
"In a year's time, we can have those talks, I don't think it's before then," Beckham told the Miami Herald.
"I've been approached by many different players from many different teams I've played with or against, and there's interest there, but you can't really have those conversations yet until closer to next year."
As for a manger, Beckham said that he hoped to "have one coach for many, many years," but that any potential hire would be expected to follow a "team philosophy."
Beckham also told the newspaper he will have news on a team name, logo, and colors by early April, while plans for a youth academy will be announced in the summer.
On Friday, Beckham took the time to visit a pair of Florida high schools to congratulate them on winning the state soccer titles.
He stopped at Palmer Trinity to present the boys' champions with their trophy, and he got an even louder reception when honoring the girls at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy.
Check out the video of @davidbeckham and @Jorge__Mas making a surprise appearance at @LourdesAcademy1 this morning to congratulate the girls soccer team on winning the State Championship! Congrats girls! @futbolmiamimls #MLSMiami #WeAreLegion #FutbolMiamiMLS pic.twitter.com/7GNa1Juc9Z
— Southern Legion (@Southern_Legion) March 2, 2018
Beckham told The Associated Press the outreach is one key part of his plan to start building a fan base in Miami.
"How can you not enjoy these moments?" Beckham said. "For me, it's always been important to go to different schools around the world, luckily, and I've seen some amazing kids and some amazing young talented kids as well. It's obvious, but kids are our future."