The other arrival is Puerto Rico FC, who face Spring Season champions Indy Eleven at the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon.

Neil Sillett, the club's technical director, recently told The Telegraph that they had realistic expectations of immediate success.

But Peterson, who is on the island for the opening game, is confident of long-term success.

"The mood is pretty good [in Puerto Rico]. I think everyone is very optimistic that it's going to go very well," he added.

"People recognise that soccer is growing on the island in what has traditionally been a baseball and basketball territory. Everyone has been pretty excited about what team Carmelo Anthony will produce - and so are we.

"I wish them the best. New teams have struggled in this league in the past couple of years. It's become such a competitive league and the teams continue to get better so it's hard for a new group coming in to figure out where the league is going to be when they get there.

"The challenge of signing players during a non-traditional time period, getting those players together, getting them enough of a pre-season where you can evaluate all of them. There's a lot of challenges - but there's no reason why they can't do well."