Barca ‘can’t afford’ Becks

United confirm interest from continental clubs

"AC Milan have said they can't afford to pay for him (Beckham) and they are in a much better financial situation than us," Bassat said yesterday

"Mr Laporta needs to explain how he is going to manage to do all that he has promised.

"We were also offered David Beckham, but I said that I would not talk about players or salaries before the elections took place."

Laporta said on Thursday he had been in talks with Manchester United to sign Beckham, adding that he hoped to conclude a deal to buy the midfielder before next week's presidential elections.

In a statement on their website on Saturday, Manchester United confirmed that a number of Spanish and Italian clubs were interested in recruiting the player.

"Manchester United can confirm today that clubs from Italy and Spain have expressed a firm interest in signing David Beckham," the club said.

"David's advisers SFX have also been approached by clubs independently and we are in regular and close contact with them regarding the status on those discussions, which are ongoing."

Barcelona's interim president Enrique Reyna said before he stepped down last month that the club were €98 million in debt, but that if his successor implemented existing cost-cutting plans the debt could be reduced to €47 million by the end of June.

In an interview with sports daily As, Laporta said he believed that signing Beckham could have a similar effect to that which Dutch international Johan Cruyff had on the club when he arrived in the early 1970s.

"Beckham could be the new leader, just like Cruyff was in the 1970s," he said. "If we win (the elections) we will put Barcelona back on top in Catalunya, Spain and in the world."

Two weeks ago Laporta was trailing Bassat by over 20% in the polls, but his bid to sign Beckham and his announcement of a deal to bring Turkish international goalkeeper Rustu Recber to the club appear to have boosted his popularity.

Bassat leads the latest poll with 26.6%, but Laporta is now less than three points down on his rival, while close to 30% of those interviewed still unsure how they will vote next Sunday.

Meanwhile Barca's bitter rivals Real Madrid have confirmed they will fight Manchester United for Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho.

The Paris St Germain striker, aged 23, has already been the subject of a bid from United and now an undisclosed Real source has confirmed that the nine-times European champions would like to add him to a star-studded cast at the Bernabeu that already includes Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

"Yes, we want Ronaldinho," the source told Marca, which is traditionally close to the Bernabeu outfit.

"He is a player perfectly suited to the qualities we are looking for.

"He has quality and no one doubts the charisma that he could hold over the fans."

Earlier this week, United were confident that a deal for Ronaldinho was in the pipeline with the player's agent and brother Roberto Assis also apparently keen on a move to Old Trafford.

However, incoming PSG coach Vahid Halilhodzic, supported by his friend and new PSG president Francis Graille, made it clear that he would do his utmost to keep a player who is contracted to the Parc des Princes

outfit until 2006.

"I did not become the manager-coach to separate myself from Ronaldinho and (Argentinean player Gabriel) Heinze," said Halilhodzic, who replaces outgoing PSG coach Lus Fernandez a man whose notoriously prickly relationship with the Brazilian was one of the reasons he announced in March that he would quit in the summer.

Halilhodzic, who joined PSG after successfully saving Rennes from relegation, said he was supported in his campaign to keep Ronaldinho by Graille and also Bertrand Meheut, boss of TV company Canal Plus which bankrolls the capital club.

The Bosnian, who first worked with Graille at Lille, has also indicated that he will not be afraid to discipline the Latin American for any breaches of club rules.

When Fernandez said he would quit in the summer he revealed that outgoing PSG president Laurent Perpere and his board had intervened to prevent him punishing the Brazilian, whose love of nightclub life and samba dancing is well documented.