Serie A - Beckham move still in balance

Eurosport - Fri, 13 Feb 22:42:00 2009

David Beckham's future was still undecided despite the Friday night deadline set by Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Serie A Milan Beckham - 0

The England midfielder has made it clear he wants to make his short-term spell at AC Milan permanent, but the Serie A side were warned they would have to move quickly after Garber insisted a deal must be agreed before the weekend if he is to leave LA Galaxy.

"I am still hopeful," Beckham said with the Milan derby coming up this weekend.

"(Moving to Milan) is something I want to happen, we have to wait and see. We want it sorted out as quick as possible."

LA Galaxy boss Bruce Arena believes Beckham will honour his contract if a permanent move to Milan fails to come off rather than try to force his way out.

There has been no breakthrough yet, with talks ongoing.

Beckham, 33, equalled Bobby Moore's England record of 108 caps for an outfield player when he featured against Spain on Wednesday and the focus is now on where he will play his club football.

Arena told BBC Radio Five: "We understand his interest in wanting to stay at Milan but we need to protect the interests of the LA Galaxy first and foremost, and that's what we're doing.

"We will continue to examine this issue until the end of the week when the league has set a deadline for the transfer."

The former United States national team boss refused to reveal the fees involved.

"There are a variety of things we've discussed but it's not public information and when Milan give us what they feels is their best offer, we'll examine it and make a decision whether it's in the best interests of our club or not," he added.

"If David Beckham returns, he is a good professional and he's going to play, and play well.

"David Beckham understands what a contract means. He will honour his contract, whether it's with LA Galaxy or AC Milan."

Arena added: "David is a great player, we'd miss him if he leaves, no question about that. However it's a team sport and one player doesn't make a team.

"We'd be thrilled to have him return but if we lose Beckham, we lose him. That's football."

Beckham feels his fitness has improved since his temporary move from America to Italy, and playing for Milan will help him remain in the thoughts of England boss Fabio Capello.

England have scheduled nine more games in 2009 which would take Beckham to 117 caps, edging him closer to the overall record of 125 held by goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

"Fitness-wise Milan has done me the world of good," he said.

"I'm a lot fitter than I was a few months back and even in the month and a half I've been there my fitness has gone up 100 per cent.

"That's the biggest thing. And I'm enjoying my club football which is great."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 9 - 28 of 28

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  1. there is o lot of people commenting on this who are­ obviously not england fans, or jealous of his fame and­ ability. only great players sell shirts, only great­ players prove themselves at the top level. he is the­ only england player to have done this time and time­ again at both club and country level. and now even at­ 33 one of the best clubs in the world are wanting to­ sign him ,doesn't that tell how hard he works,­ isn't it time you stopped being jealous and­ accepted him for the great player and great man he is.

    From N, on Sat 14 Feb 7:49PM
  2. He's staying with Galaxy. MLS has announced Milan­ did not make the second offer. Probably the first time­ he's been told no in a long time. He made his bed,­ now he needs to make the best of it.

    From TF, on Sat 14 Feb 6:43AM
  3. beckham is a publicity whore you'll see his form­ dip when he eventually signs

    From Wulk Bogan, on Sat 14 Feb 3:14AM
  4. If he really wants to stay at Milan he could finance­ the move himself, he has more money than you would need­ for 100 life times, if it is 10 million, just a drop in­ the ocean for him.

    From Stephen V, on Fri 13 Feb 2:20PM
  5. I had no interest in watching the games at-­ present....I- found a hot place, you guys should try­ it- ___W ealthy finder co m_____a great place for rich-­ people to meet- their soul mates....

    From cherrylove198667, on Fri 13 Feb 2:15PM
  6. barring lifting any silver-wear (for England) DB is by­ far the greatest england player we have had! dont care­ what anyone says! he played and accomplished things for­ arguably the two greatest clubs of all time! is a out­ and out proffesional and so wat that he gets so much­ fame! he's the one who gonna be laughing his head­ off when he finally hangs his boots up! all these­ beckham haters forget the amount of Dung he has single­ handidly pulled us out of over the years! a great­ player and captain will always be remembered that way!­ his free kick against greece! still makes the hairs on­ my neck stand on end!!! good luck at AC Becks!­ you'll be in SAfrica with us in 2010!!

    From Mark, on Fri 13 Feb 10:41AM
  7. he only knows abc!!der.................................

    From sean d, on Fri 13 Feb 10:01AM
  8. stevenozouf
    Oh yeah, and what's he done since?

    From sappercommando25, on Fri 13 Feb 8:26AM
  9. Beckham moved to the MLS for the money.
    Beckham was­ not the top player in the league.
    Beckham was on a team­ that finished at the bottom each season.
    Beckham went­ to milan and realized, hey, I need to be surrounded by­ excellent players to win.
    Beckham wants to be on a team­ that wins. He is now on one and wants to stay.
    Beckham­ did say he wanted to work to put the MLS on the map. I­ guess he just did not want to work that hard. It is­ amazing how people change when they realize what is­ ahead of them.

    David, here is how you can get out of­ your contract. You can buy your way out. You are­ worth plenty, you can add on 10 million of your own and­ I bet the deal would go through. How bad do you want­ to move?

    From Steve, on Fri 13 Feb 2:45AM
  10. Steve H. Do your history. If you insist, Man U players­ directly,indirectly contributed to the demise of the­ three lions WC98,EU04,WC06. Got their head hot and­ getting sen off. Beckham and Rooney.

    From Johnson, on Fri 13 Feb 2:37AM
  11. What SOLUTION. Beckham is a well known footballer,­ money/fame grabber. He made move to MLS to get more­ $$$$$. Now he wanna out to join AC for one simple­ reason. To achieve individual greatness at others'­ expense. He's way past his best.

    From Johnson, on Fri 13 Feb 2:32AM
  12. Beckham is like marmite,

    You love it, or hate­ it,

    Pass the marmite, David. Hope you make it to the­ top.

    From Kevin, on Fri 13 Feb 1:36AM
  13. Excuse me!!! I guess you are not watching soccer or you­ have a short memory. Beck was doing so fine in Real But­ Calderon wanted to put a pressure on him so he can give­ up his commercial right for the team " or better­ yet for Mr Calderon" which he refused to do. He­ paid the consequences by not being able to play. Did­ you forget all the saga that followed his decision to­ hey opt out of Real and the way they tried to force im­ to stay. He has been always a good player. He never­ quit doing it. And he was surely missed in every game­ he was not called for to play whether in England­ national team or in Real Madrid.

    From mehdi y, on Fri 13 Feb 1:05AM
  14. Why is it that Beckham is playing better now than he­ did at Real? Because of tough MLS lessons. If he was­ so great and MLS so poor, why did Galaxy finish at the­ bottom? He should have been able to run circles around­ the competition and scored far more goals. Maybe the­ truth is inferior Italian players are making him look­ better for now but it will be fun to see what happens­ when Milan get their injured players back and Dave goes­ back to his good old lazy Real/MLS self. I hope­ Galaxy/MLS gets out of the deal and gets as much money­ as they possibly can before he comes up lame. BTW, did­ anyone remember that "Rude Gullet" was the­ manager at Galaxy for a few minutes there? Funny how­ they didn't mention that when he was sniffing­ around the Chelsea job.

    From Donjay, on Thu 12 Feb 11:10PM
  15. You crazy guys are joining the British Press to inflate­ the already over-bloated ego of someone with a NAKED­ AMBITION with his wife.
    Let him concentrate on his act­ of "Stripping Off" for BIG Cash with his­ wife and stop loitering around to make a team for about­ 2minutes playing cap.

    From Olugbayi, on Thu 12 Feb 10:56PM
  16. shut up the lot of you. didnt hear you english moan­ when he scored that goal against greece and took you to­ the euros, all praise for him then. he still playing­ great footy now for milan. and if agbonlahor and heskey­ actually played behind the spain defence like they do­ in the premier league england woulda scored from­ beckhams passes. beckham has done more for football­ than any of you will ever do. oh and by the way im a­ french fan and even id love beckham to play for france­ as he has still got the touch!you lot should be happy­ that you have such a dedicated player to the game, as­ theres loads of big countries who would have beckham in­ their team

    From PartyChick116, on Thu 12 Feb 10:34PM
  17. So all you beckham haters konw more than all englands­ managers not to mention all the managers hes played for­ at club level. I suppose you all hate man u as well or­ are still bitter he went. give him a break if he was no­ good he wouldnt be playing would he? And roy c you cant­ even spell his name you pillock!!

    From sunlover, on Thu 12 Feb 10:24PM
  18. It's all about beckham's ego.....for him to lie­ and say he's not thinking about the records and­ then say he wants his boys to see his name at the top­ of the list....??? That sounds like he is thinking of­ the records how gullible a lot of people are. Think of­ the FUTURE players of England not the­ past....they've a lot to learn Spain were total­ class last night....England playing chase throughout.­ He owes Galaxy a lot of money if he wants to leave,­ what did he do there? raise the profile of the MLS? NO­ the Galaxy have never finished that poor before....all­ he did was Celebrity stalking and advertise felt tip­ pens.....marketing tool nothing more.

    From Susan, on Thu 12 Feb 9:28PM
  19. He has to go there for one last shot at it. I agree­ with you all that he has milked it but he has to get­ away from that moron of a wife of his as well who is­ following him everywhere on planes. There was not a lot­ to get enthusiastic about last night so he should be­ given a chance. The best England can hope for is to­ qualify from a group but the organisers will put them­ in with the Argies and the Krauts just to wind them up.­ He could not lace the boots of Bobby Moore or Bobby­ Charlton but in the modern era he has become a legend.­ That says a lot for modern era football in England.

    From taff, on Thu 12 Feb 9:15PM
  20. It is true to say that David Beckham is just there for­ his own ego (which is as wide as the Euro Tunnel). The­ performance of the English was embarrassing to say the­ least as they were chasing the game from the word go.­ As I have always said, David is out there for himself­ and breaking records. His move to the LA Galaxy was­ nothing more than a celebrity PR stunt to promot the­ MLS. At the end of the day the Galaxy were pretty good­ without that ponse anyway.
    Hang up your boots Backs and­ get another life you waste of space.....the same goes­ for Owen, Heskey(the donkey), Carrick, Carragher,­ Gerrard, Ferdinand, Terry, the Coles. Out with the old­ and rusty andin with the new

    From sappercommando25, on Thu 12 Feb 9:14PM
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