Weekend Football

06 March 2009

by Jerrad Peters

Milan and Galaxy reach unique agreement on Beckham

That David Beckham would remain at AC Milan through May was never in any real doubt. Having played well for the Rossoneri since arriving on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy in November, he had only to clarify his preference to remain at the San Siro before both sides would be forced to the negotiating table. He did that last month. And after several weeks of often bitter discussions between the two sides, a deal was finally agreed on Friday.

The arrangement, nicknamed a "timeshare agreement," will see Beckham completing the domestic schedule in Serie A before returning to California in the summer. After a short break, he will join Galaxy for either a July 4 encounter at home to New England Revolution or a July 11 match away to Chivas USA.

Particulars to be sorted by Monday

While Milan made an attempt to purchase Beckham's permanent signature in February, Galaxy and Major League Soccer—who co-own his contract—balked at the Italian side's four million pound offer. In fact, the two camps remained so far apart that Beckham was forced into paying 2 million pounds of his own money to extend the loan.

"The most important thing is that he remains in a Milan shirt," remarked Milan's technical director Adriano Galliano. "It's not important when we sign the contract. Nothing is official yet, but there is every probability that he will remain."

While the necessary paperwork was not completed when the agreement was announced on Friday, all particulars will be sorted out by Monday—the day Beckham's original loan from Galaxy to Milan was supposed to end.

After playing the five months in the United States, Beckham will take advantage of an out-clause in his contract with MLS and return to Italy. He will re-join the team in January, hoping to bolster the club's chances domestically and in the Champions' League.

Ancelotti admiration

What was originally intended as a training stint has become far more to both the player and his current manager, Carlo Ancelotti. In an interview with Foot magazine, the Milan boss stated, "At the beginning he was set to train with us for two months and I didn't think about playing him. Then I saw how he trained and I had no choice."

The 49-year-old also admitted that Milan made overtures to Beckham both in 2003 and 2006 when the midfielder signed for Real Madrid and Los Angeles Galaxy, respectively.

"I can say he is a great player," he added. "He has won me over with his performance and his character."

Eye on World Cup

Beckham's on-field performances have won him no shortage of friends in Italian football, and he'll obviously be looking forward to returning to Milan in the autumn. But what of the partial season he'll play with Galaxy? What kind of player will the American club be getting?

Considering that most Europe-based footballers rest for a month before returning to training in July, Beckham's vacation will be rather brief. He'll have approximately two weeks between concluding the Serie A season with the Rossoneri and jumping into the MLS campaign with Galaxy. And given that he already jumped straight from Los Angeles to Italy for training in November, he's bound to be fatigued.

That said, Beckham has made this series of decisions with one goal in mind: the 2010 World Cup. As long as he is in or on the periphery of England manager Fabio Capello's squad, he'll play as much top-flight football as possible. Los Angeles Galaxy have merely become Beckham's glorified summer training regimen.

Moving on

My weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press appeared for the final time last Saturday, February 28. The newspaper industry is experiencing some economic uncertainty at the moment, and my position was one of several cuts at the Free Press.

Fortunately, readers can still find my work in Soccer 360 magazine, ESPN Soccernet and Soccer365.com. While I'm disappointed to cut ties with the Free Press, I'll continue to pursue work in other publications and will have no trouble filling my plate with my current workload.

Podcast listeners can also hear me on the upcoming edition of the Goalmouth Scramble, available on iTunes or at http://www.soccerpro.com/goalmouthscramble/.

Thanks for reading.

 

jerradpeters@gmail.com