Toshack recommends Real to Beckham

Former Real Madrid boss John Toshack believes David Beckham will still be a Manchester United player next season – but has told him to jump at the chance if he is offered a move to Spain.

Speculation continues to mount over the England captain’s future after he was left out of the starting line-up for the Champions League clash between his current employers and, if the rumours are to believed, his future paymasters on Wednesday evening.

Opinion remains divided on the true picture with some commentators claiming he will stay at Old Trafford, others suggesting that a deal amounting to as much as £40million is already being brokered and yet more reporting a possible swap deal with Brazilian Ronaldo.

However Toshack, who knows all about life at the Bernabeu Stadium, is tipping Beckham to remain exactly where he is.

“If you speak from purely a football point of view, Madrid’s needs are more in other positions,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

“They’ve got (Luis) Figo playing in Beckham’s position and a young lad Minambres, who they rate very highly, comes in when Figo is not available.

“This is something that’s just snowballed since before the first leg. Unless of course Figo was to be sold, then I would think it would be difficult for Beckham to go to Madrid.

“That’s a personal opinion. These days in football you’re never surprised, but if Figo was to stay in Madrid, then I wouldn’t imagine that Beckham would go there.

“The other thing, of course, from Manchester United’s point of view is that Beckham finishes a contract in two years’ time and it would be unthinkable for him to stay there two years and then be on a free transfer.

“From Manchester United’s point of view, they must be thinking long and hard about the thing as well, I would think.”

Asked outright if he thought Beckham would be a Real player next season, Toshack said: “You can’t get into people’s minds, but I would say no.”

However, the former Welsh international striker, who has spent many years working in Spain, admitted that if the chance did come along, he would advise Beckham to grab it with both hands.

“It’s never easy, but at the same time, I would say – we’re talking a little bit hypothetically – if there’s truth in the rumour that Madrid are interested in him and he does have a say in it, then I would advise him to say yes,” he said.

“Irrespective of the great career that he’s had and is still having at Manchester United, who are a very, very big club, there are so many positive things, so many positive experiences that he could get out of a move to Madrid.

“With probably having another five or six years left, then if the opportunity does come up, he would or should maybe take it.

“But you can’t speak for what other people think, can you?”

Whether or not Real president Florentino Perez does make a move remains to be seen as the controversy over Beckham’s use as a substitute against his club continues, although Toshack was quick to back Alex Ferguson over that decision.

“He looked at the game, he saw the situation and saw Manchester United’s three games since the first leg in Madrid were very impressive and Beckham didn’t play in two of those games,” he said.

“I think personally that United were never, over the two legs, in a position to win the tie. Maybe the final scoreline, 6-5, flattered them a little bit.

“But as regards the team selection, Ferguson is with them 24 hours a day, he knows what’s best for his team – that’s what he’s paid for.”