Who is 'Little Motor,' the star midfielder expected to join Lionel Messi in Miami?

De Paul will be a fascinating acquisition for Inter Miami and a completely different prospect than Sergio Busquets (36 years old), Jordi Alba (37) and Messi (38) — the team's famed "Barcelona Boys." Unlike those players, De Paul, who's only 31, still has plenty of top years left.

Here's what to know about De Paul:

He has a strong on-field relationship with Lionel Messi

Messi is a creative spark plug who needs space and calm to create magic; De Paul is a physical powerhouse who creates space and calm through clever positioning and tackling. When they play together, Messi and De Paul become more than the sum of their skills — and to hear De Paul tell it, they barely have to discuss it out loud.

"A lot of the time, the analysis that I do while I’m playing leads me to try to make him [Messi] run less,” De Paul told The Athletic. “To make less wear and tear and to have more space to play with — these are things that cross my mind during the match. So the dialogue with him is constant. We understand each other with a look.”

He loves David Beckham and turns to him for creative inspiration

Trained as a forward but increasingly slotted into a hard-running central midfield role, De Paul isn't exactly a creative playmaker in the style of David Beckham, but he looks up to the English legend all the same.

De Paul pays homage to his idol through his wild, ever-changing haircuts, many of which Beckham debuted during his England and Manchester United heyday. By coming to MLS, De Paul isn't just following in Messi's footsteps. He's also paying homage to Beckham, an Inter Miami's part owner.

De Paul runs and runs and runs

Nicknamed "El Motorcito" — the Little Motor — De Paul is one of the more reliable midfield runners on the global circuit. During last summer's Copa America, De Paul covered more than 32 miles during Argentina's three opening matches — more than any other Argentina player and nearly twice as many as Messi managed in the same time period.

De Paul isn't afraid to exhaust himself to make things easier for his creative teammates. That makes him a natural fit for this high-talent, low-energy Miami side.

De Paul is a legend in northern Italy

De Paul spent the prime of his career at Udinese, a beloved, underrated club in the far northeastern corner of Italy. (The club's stadium is a short distance from Slovenia to the east.) He arrived at Udinese as a little-known prospect but left it as one of the club's more impactful players of all time. 

De Paul tallied 66 goals and assists during during his five-year tenure and captained the team for the past 18 months of his contract. 

“He’s become a leader and is the first person to demand more of himself," said DePaul's Udinese coach, Luca Gotti, per The Athletic. "It’s infectious and you can see the fruits of this transformation on the pitch. When someone is becoming as strong mentally as he is, you can’t rule anything out.

"He'll be a success in whatever he tries his hand at."