Photo credit: Christopher Harris

David Beckham is open to the possibility of Miami’s new MLS franchise fielding a NWSL team in the future, according to his remarks in a press conference on Monday.

Asked whether Beckham would be interested in adding a women’s team, Beckham said, “At the moment, we have a blank canvas so we want to create a community with our club. It’s not just being a MLS team, which obviously we are. We want to be a global team. But we want to have other outlets and other reaches. And if that means we have a women’s academy and a women’s team, then that’s what we want to aim for.

“If it’s having other teams, there’s a hell of a lot of work to be done.

“We can go to all different kind of levels with this team, and that’s the good thing about having a blank canvas. We are starting from the ground up. We are building a club and a community, so there’s many different things this team can do.”

Both Beckham and Miami MLS investor Marcelo Claure confirmed that one of the first goals of the club is to set up an academy in Miami that will launch before the MLS team plays its first game. Claure said that the franchise has been looking at several locations throughout the area but has not finalized a site yet.

Beckham was in Miami on Monday to announce the launch of MLS’s 25th team, which is scheduled to debut in Miami, Florida in 2020.