Only a few days separated the first reports linking Lewis Morgan with a move to MLS and news that terms had been agreed. Miami is, after all, not a difficult sell.

South Florida has plenty to offer those looking for a good life and life for Morgan will now be very different, with a deal thought to be worth in the region of £300,000 all but done for him to become an Inter Miami player.

Still, there is a rather large element of the unknown to the Scotland international’s move across the Atlantic. Inter Miami are a new club, meaning they have never played a match before. Morgan will be a member of the first squad assembled for their first MLS season, which kicks off with an away game against FC Dallas on February 22.

Owned in part by David Beckham, who in 2014 activated a clause in his playing contract with LA Galaxy that allowed him to purchase an MLS franchise for just $25m (for context, Charlotte last month because the league’s latest franchise costing $325m), Inter Miami’s entry to the league has been much hyped for years. Much scrutinised, too.

Miami has been home to an MLS team before. The Miami Fusion operated for four seasons before folding due to a lack of an off-the-field impact. Crowds were low, interest was minimal and it was decided South Florida wasn’t the place for MLS. To this day, it remains one of the most challenging sports markets in the United States.

“The culture of the city itself is going to be the challenge,” says Brian Dunseth who played for the Miami Fusion. “It’s a late night culture, it’s a culture that doesn’t want to be sat out in the heat in the middle of the afternoon. After all the pomp and circumstance wares off a bit and they’re just another sports team in Florida, how do they capture the imagination of that fan-base each and every week?”

When the argument was first being made for the resurrection of a South Florida MLS club, it was pointed out that the Miami Fusion played in Fort Lauderdale rather than Miami itself. Beckham always stated, and still does, that his team would not make the same mistake, but Inter Miami will play their first few seasons at least in Fort Lauderdale. So what will be different this time around?

“When you’re called ‘Inter Miami’ and you don’t play in Miami, that’s a problem right there,” says Dunseth. “There’s a big difference, so yes it’s important that they eventually find a way into Miami and I think Beckham is aware of that.”

On the pitch (which incidentally is still in a race against time to be built for the club’s first home game on March 13), a team are being assembled. While Beckham’s involvement led many to believe Inter Miami would target well-known stars in the mould of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and all the others who have made the move to MLS late in their careers, they have instead prioritised the signing of promising, young talent, turning a specific focus to Latin America.

Morgan’s new manager, Diego Alonso, is considered one of Mexico’s brightest having won the CONCACAF Champions League with two different clubs (Pacheco and Monterrey) in the past three years. Matias Pellegrini is one of Argentina’s most promising teenagers, signed for around $9m from Estudiantes. Roger Martinez, a Colombian international striker, is expected to be signed for $15m from Club America.

Of course, Morgan has not been plucked from Latin America, hailing from Greenock, but he does fit Inter Miami’s strategy of targeting young players with scope for improvement.

This has, in fact, become something of a league-wide trend – see New York City’s signing of former Arsenal and Rangers player Gedion Zelalem, not so long ago hyped as a wonderkid.

Morgan might not have flourished as hoped at Celtic, but more game time will almost certainly come his way in MLS. The recent success of Miguel Almiron, Jack Harrison and Tyler Adams also proves that if Morgan develops, MLS could be a springboard back to Europe. Scouts increasingly see MLS as a source of talent.

“I think Inter Miami will spare no expense to hit the ground running and to immediately be competitive,” Dunseth adds. “I would say a realistic goal [in their first season] should absolutely be the play-offs and by year three Inter Miami, with the money that’s available, should be in the conversation for an MLS Cup trophy.

“They’re going to be quick, they’re going to be fast, they’re going to be ruthless and it’s going to be successful.”