Beckham rejects 'ludicrous' affair reports

England football captain David Beckham today described reports that he had an affair with his personal assistant last year as “ludicrous”.

The News of the World reported alleged intimate details of a relationship between him and 26-year-old Rebecca Loos and printed explicit phone text messages which they claimed were sent by the sporting star.

But Beckham, 28, called the story “ludicrous” and insisted he was hapily married.

In a statement, released via his agent Caroline McAteer, he said: “During the past few months I have become accustomed to reading more and more ludicrous stories about my private life.

“What appeared this morning is just one further example. The simple truth is that I am very happily married, have a wonderful wife and two very special kids.

“There is nothing that any third party can do to change these facts.”

Beckham was training with his Real Madrid team-mates in Spain today when news of the story broke.

It is not yet clear whether he will take legal action over the newspaper reports.

According to the newspaper, Beckham became close to Ms Loos as she helped him and his family settle into their new life in Spain.

She worked for the SFX Group, the sports personality management company which looked after the Beckhams.

The reports alleged Beckham invited Ms Loos back to his Madrid hotel room on September 18 last year after a night out drinking.

This was reported to be one in a series of four meetings, before the footballer broke off both his relations with SFX and with Ms Loos last December.

The newspaper said that he never saw her again, but it printed a series of explicit text messages which were reportedly sent between the football star and Ms Loos as recently as last month.

The alleged revelations were told via a “family friend” of Ms Loos.

When approached by the newspaper, Ms Loos is reported to have said: “I am afraid I have no comment for you. Please leave me alone.”

Publicist Max Clifford said: “I have been aware that this has been ongoing for some months, ever since the News of the World did the original investigation bck in September.”

A spokeswoman for the News of the World said: “We fully appreciate the significance of the report and stand by our story 100%.”

Speculation over the Beckhams' marriage first surfaced last September after the footballer's transfer to Spain.

Beckham was pictured with Ms Loos, but he and his wife issued a statement insisting their relationship was fine.

The statement read: “Contrary to reports, our marriage is not in crisis. We are extremely happy together as a family. Our only difficulty has been finding a house in Madrid that meets our needs.

“Since we first met, our careers have always meant we have spent time apart.

“This is not a reflection on the strength of our marriage and we are very much enjoying our new life in Spain.”