[Archived] Beckham Signs Five Year Deal At La Galaxy

[SamTheShrew]

Apparently Beckham has signed a five year deal and will move at the end of the season, in a deal that could be worth up to 250million!

clearly going for money then, as he could definitely play at a higher level for a number of years yet

[SuperStella]

Cant believe he turned down a lucrative £100 a week deal and plush apartment next door to Angels escorting service at Bank Top to go to L.A.

He must be mad

[brfcshabba]

Some of the radio programmes have said that he has basically retired due to the standard of football and that he could have moved to virtually any football club in europe but has chosen to try and promote his fame the US

[SuperStella]

L.A. have a world class team, fronted by ex pompey midfielder Stefano Miglioranzini

The deal hinges on whether any of the kick off times are 6pm. If they are, Beckham will decline the deal. He hates them nasty 6 o clocks.

[SamTheShrew]

apparently ex-ipswich 'stalwart' Frank Yallop is head coach! and cobi jones with his 200 odd international caps plays for them.

i think its safe to say Beckham has given up hope of an England recall

[BuckyRover]

Victoria Beckham

you horrible woman. it must be her doing.

he is not crazy

[SuperStella]

posh will be happy with the shopping experience over there!

[Rovermatt]

Dear oh dear. What a sell-out. He's only 31, he's still a class player and has had an illustrious career yet he takes the route of battered old great heaving for his last pay day by dropping down a level or five to play in the MLS.

[mac]

Are any L.A games on Eurosport ?

[SuperStella]

Yeah but its a 6pm kick off and I wont be home from work

What kind of club are they?!!

[mac]

6 pm for a home game ?

I dont belive you! What can of club would do that to its fans ?

[BigDom]

Whilst being interviewed on SKY News, some US Soccer reporter stated that US Major League Soccer does not come close to La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and is a million miles away in terms of quality and stature to the English Premier League. When asked to compare the standard, he said that the US MLS was equivilent to the lower half of the Championship + top half of League One !!!

While £128 million over 5 years is probably far more than most teams would be able to afford, IMO he really has sold himself....and it sounds like he has also given up all hope of an England recall

A sad way to end his career !

[speeeeeeedie]

Tis true

What a strange decision.

I guess that all the "I still want to play for England" talk was all bo!!ocks. By going to the MLS he's effectively hanging up his boots. It's not a bad standard, but nowhere near good enough to keep hopeful internationals ready to play.

No doubt the tabloids are scrambling for LA pads where they can stalk the golden couple for years to come.

If he can make the game popular Stateside, he will forever go down as the man who took the World Cup away from the rest of the world, because if the Yanks do take it on board we'll definitely never win another one. I doubt he'll manage it though.

As for 6pm kick offs, they are to satisfy the East Coast fan, who can watch them at 9pm.

LA Galaxy homepage

No doubt this will get bombarded in the next few days.

[SamTheShrew]

tell ya what though mate, whilst watching the new englanv vs houston MLS game i can tell you we can certainly learn alot from their penalty taking!

[Radagast]

Its sad that a player of his quality has come to prefer being a 'celeb' (hell, a brand) than a footballer. Dear dear.

[RoyRover]

It's obvious that the money and the chance to promote David Beckham's name in the U.S and inparticular in the home of celebrity, L.A, is what's behind this move. He could easily play for a couple more years at the highest level, yet he has sold out to the highest bidder and this obsession with celebrity.

[modes98]

Its sad that a player of his quality has come to prefer being a 'celeb' (hell, a brand) than a footballer. Dear dear.

He will be more of a footballer at LA Galaxy than he was at Madrid. He will play every game of that 5 year contract, if fit, and will raise the profile of MLS. It is a strange decision as he could have basically gone anywhere but when he wasn't being played at madrid and the manager didn't seem to want to give him a chance then he had to move.

The money doesn't matter to him, the only thing that matters is the football, granted the money helps but he could have easily sat on the bench for 2 extra years at madrid and earn ridiculas money. You should point the finger of blame at madrid who only wanted to keep him to sell shirts and la galaxy who are trying to raise their profile.

Good Luck to him the end of an era and a talented footballers career.

[bellamy11]

He has clearly decided he won't get back into the England squad. That's as much McClaren's fault as his own. He surely doesn't rate Jermain Jenas ahead of David Beckham. IMO it's all PR to remove himself of the Sven stigma and look "his own man".

Beckham will wind down his career in a fantastic city, decent weather, and a chance to be the man who starts a "soccer" revolution in America. And for the priviledge he'll be paid nearly £500,000 a week.

I know what I'd do. And to be honest, I don't think the merits of trying to help out a Blackburn or Tottenham or West Ham at a higher level of football outweigh them.

[Rovermatt]

He will be more of a footballer at LA Galaxy than he was at Madrid. He will play every game of that 5 year contract, if fit, and will raise the profile of MLS. It is a strange decision as he could have basically gone anywhere but when he wasn't being played at madrid and the manager didn't seem to want to give him a chance then he had to move.

The money doesn't matter to him, the only thing that matters is the football, granted the money helps but he could have easily sat on the bench for 2 extra years at madrid and earn ridiculas money. You should point the finger of blame at madrid who only wanted to keep him to sell shirts and la galaxy who are trying to raise their profile.

Good Luck to him the end of an era and a talented footballers career.

You can't blame Madrid. So what if he wasn't getting a game? He didn't fit their system this season and so didn't play.

[M-K]

Its sad that a player of his quality has come to prefer being a 'celeb' (hell, a brand) than a footballer. Dear dear.

He has spent the last few years being ridiculed and largely blamed for the poor form and dressing-room unrest of Man Utd, Real Madrid and England. I don't recall many people jumping to his defence when the media was all over his back, trying to get him dropped from the national team - which they eventually managed.

The hate campaign against him began in 1998 and only abated for a brief period when not even his most committed detractors could deny he was a pretty decent player for England. But well before he left Man Utd, people were saying he was just a celebrity and all he brought to the team was the odd free kick.

In short, why wouldn't he move to LA? Everyone's sick of him in Europe and most football fans don't rate him at all as a player. No pace, can't beat a marker, can't tackle etc... We can't start saying 'actually, he was great' after everything that's gone before.

[broadsword]

He surely doesn't rate Jermain Jenas ahead of David Beckham. IMO it's all PR to remove himself of the Sven stigma and look "his own man".

I'd prefer to think it's because Beckham's shot.

He's gone to LA to keep an eye on his soccer academies.

I wouldn't begrudge one last pay day at LA, he needs it otherwise he'd have to open a pub after retirement. With only £87m in the bank, you're constantly trying to keep the wolves from the door.

[philipl]

Nice to see he has found a retirement club.

The Qataris will be having to up their rate for jaded has beens again.

[Eddie]

I could understand him doing this in 2 or 3 years time, but it is sad to see a player with still plenty of time left making a move like this. It is also a real shame because I think it is the end of any chance of England recalling a player who they could do with.

[Billy Castell]

We all know he's going over there to train as a Scientology Priest with his new mate Tom Cruise. Then they will all go an beat up psychiatrists and forniate in mass orgies or whatever those loons do.

He's gone because he wants to play football with no real pressure, and earn sh_tloads of cash for his blow up doll of a wife to spend at fashion shows. He'll be the biggest star there this side of Cobi '3 inches' Jones over there and become an A-List celeb.

[AxesFirstTouch]

If he had came back to EPL, could he have coped with the pace and power, the league is alot more faster and pysical then when he buggered off to Madrid. He knows he would have been made to look average if he had came back, at least in MLS he wont look like a average player compared to the other players.

Look at Larsson a World class player, even at 35 and a top prem club Man utd desperate to sign him on only a 3 month loan to help win the league, Does anyone think that when Beckham is 35, any of the big 3 will be asking to take him on loan to use him as their secret weapon to win the league? No Chance, hes not a world class player and never was, hence why Mclaren dropped him straight away, you need world class players to win World Cups.

As for the wages, its shocking that a aging has been is going to earn the quoted 500K a week, while a truly talented and world class player like Henry will earn only 1/4 of what Beckham will earn, players like Henry even the neutrals would say deserve his high wage for providing high quality football entertainment on the pitch.