Real deal as Beckham is unveiled

David Beckham was today unveiled as a Real Madrid player in front of the world’s media in the Spanish capital.

The England captain passed a medical yesterday and tied up the £25m (€36m) deal at the Bernabeu last night.

He was handed Real’s famous white shirt, bearing the number 23, by Madrid legend Alfredo di Stefano, the Argentinian striker who made the club such a force in the 1950s and 1960s.

Beckham joins Real’s modern galaxy of stars which includes Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Raul and Roberto Carlos and insisted last night that he “couldn’t wait” to get started.

Beckham will take a three-week break after today’s unveiling before joining up with his new team-mates for pre-season training, under the watchful eye of new Real coach Carlos Queiroz, who worked with Beckham as Alex Ferguson’s number two at Manchester United last season.

News of his move to Real broke last month after United initially agreed a fee for the player with Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

Beckham’s management company SFX said at the time that the player felt he was being used as a “political pawn” by Laporta, whose popularity in the presidential polls soared when news of the accepted bid was made public.

AC Milan, Inter Milan and Real were all still reported to be interested in spite of Real sporting director Jorge Valdano and president Florentino Perez both emphatically denying any interest in the player.