Beckham future still in balance

The chances of David Beckham staying at Manchester United appear to be growing today but the saga of his future continues to rumble on.

AC Milan are now seemingly out of the race to sign the £30m (€42.5m)-rated England captain after club owner, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, categorically stated there were “better ways of spending money” yesterday.

Milan’s great rivals Inter have started to express interest but admit the cost could be prohibitive, while Spanish giants Real Madrid yesterday underlined their determination to control players’ image rights.

The issue of image rights was believed to be one of the stumbling blocks when United last came to renegotiate terms with Beckham.

A deal was eventually agreed which allows him freedom to choose his own endorsements but Real, keen to break into new overseas markets, would wish to exploit his commerciality themselves.

That would leave Barcelona as the forerunners for his signature, although only if Joan Laporta is elected club president later this month.

Laporta has made signing Beckham the cornerstone of his election campaign, but despite the pledge boosting his approval rating, Lluis Bassat remains favourite for the post.

Ruling Milan out of the chase, Berlusconi said: “There are many better ways of spending money, earned with such sacrifice, rather than signing Mr Beckham.”

Director Ariedo Braida, in charge of the football side of the club, added: “We are absolutely not interested, they are just fantasy rumours that have been reported by the press.

“He is a great player, but there is nothing in it.”

Speculation over Beckham’s future heightened at the weekend when United confirmed that they have received interest in the player from clubs in Italy and Spain.

Inter could be one of those clubs after general director Massimo Moretti, not to be confused with the club’s president Massimo Moratti, told PA International: “Beckham is a great player, there is an interest because the best players always appeal to Inter Milan.”

Moretti admitted, though, that any agreement would be hard to reach.

“Some transfers of big players are easy and others, as in Beckham’s case, are very difficult,” he said.

“It is a very difficult transfer and very costly but we are considering it. In the next 15 days we will evaluate the situation of our players.”

Real Madrid have been linked with Beckham for some time but the terms on offer at the Bernabeu may not appeal to the midfielder.

Madrid would like to emulate the success of United in the commercial markets of the Far East and elsewhere and Beckham’s signature would increase their profile considerably. Beckham, however, is thought to want to control his own affairs.

Emilio Butragueno, Real’s deputy general manager, said: “Beckham is an icon for soccer in the world right now, there’s no question about that.

“David Beckham is a company in himself. Right now he is one of the most important players in terms of marketing in the world, but would we sign him just for that? We are a soccer team first so there are other things to bear in mind.”

But he added: “When a player signs for Real Madrid he must give up his image rights for the club to manage. This is a must, a policy of the club, but of course we would respect previous agreements.

“Ronaldo and (Zinedine) Zidane had several contracts signed already but we now manage their image rights and share the revenue with them.”

With Barcelona looking the more likely to sign Beckham, Nou Camp legend Julio Salinas has backed a move for the player.

“He (Beckham) is a very good player, his touch on the ball and technique is fantastic, but the Barcelona team needs to be strengthened as a whole,” said Salinas.

“We need quality players like Beckham, who is obviously well-known. But just Beckham would not be enough, we need four or five world-class players like him.”