David Beckham scored his first Serie A goal for AC Milan on Sunday, and caused even more of a stir by hinting that his return to the Los Angeles Galaxy after a loan spell with Milan is not assured.
"I can't say what will happen," Beckham said after Milan's 4-1 win vs. Bologna. "Even if my contract says that I'll be here until March. We'll have to see.
"At the moment I'm enjoying this experience. I'm at one of the biggest clubs in the world. And having won gives us confidence to continue."
Whether Beckham was just being polite, or if he's actually pondering a stay in Italy, his performance on Sunday certainly provided evidence that he can be a major contributor for AC Milan if he were to stay.
Here is Beckham's goal:
What do you think of the situation? Think Beckham will stay in Italy, or do you see him honoring at least the final year of his MLS contract before he can opt out after the 2009 season?
Share your thoughts below.
Ever noticed how happy Beckham’s teammates look whenever he scores, no matter what team he’s playing on?
This guy is like the ultimate professional/teammate.
Becks wants to leave. Who would want to stay in the MLS when they can START for AC Milan and play with the best players in the world?
But, MLS will not let him go. The offer from Milan would have to be huge for MLS to let him go.
Alas, Alexi Lalas might be correct for once in his egotastic media comments.
Beckham’s adventures in MLS have been a tragicomedy. The added twist is that folks are laughing at the tragedy and crying at the comedy.
Let this farce end, and let DB join with AC.
Nice goal. How come he can’t do that at LA?
What about Panucci instead? Cannot see the time he’s moving away from Roma.
I think some guys here need to come back to earth. Milan would pay $30-40 million for him? They are not that stupid. Becks is 34 in a couple of months. That might make him just the right age for Milan, but they won’t spend their transfer budget on a guy who can give them just a couple of years. Even 10 million would be too much.
Milan needs to rebuild their defense and maybe get a new goalkeeper and I doubt they’re willing to spend big bucks on a old midfielder.
I think Becks is a perfect match for MLS and if Milan doesn’t figure out a way to get him cheaply, he should return.
Funny, MiamiAl….When he left for Italy I thought he wouldn’t come back. I WANT him to come back, but I don’t see it happening…And, he’s still a great player.
All Beckham in Milan proves is that a mediocre MLS player can be a star in the Serie A….
Best case scenario is he leaves after this MLS season if the Galaxy win the title. I doubt that’ll happen but it’s a best case scenario. Worst case scenario is stays with Milan but it’s kind of obvious he’s having a lot of over there and if it were you or me, you’d stay too. Tough call to make. One things for sure is there aren’t going to be Laker games to go to….
MLS should let Beckham go now provided Milan pays a fee and that Beckham renegotiates his contract so that he returns to MLS in 2011. MLS should try and make an arrangement that allows Beckham to go to Milan through the 2010 season– basically one and one-half years. Beckham desperately wants to make the 2010 World Cup team. Milan offers him the best hope to do that. That is the win in the negotiation for Beckham. MLS can get a short-term win by pressing Milan for big money for Beckham. And, in the long run, MLS and Beckham could win if they renegotiate his deal so that he comes back and gives MLS 2011 and 2012. This will allow him to come back with renewed hype, and cash-in on the Hollywood aspect of his life, while extending his playing career.
The Galaxy should let Becks go, take the money and establish youth academies from Santa Barbara to San Diego. They should hire some good developmental coaches and build a real team foundation.
Smells to me like a guy being asked an awkward question where he can’t exactly say, “Sod off.”
He has done all he can for American soccer — there really is not much advantage in bringing him back. He does not make LA a championship caliber team. If MLS and LA can get a major payday out of a transfer, then they should by all means do it.
MLS is a selling league and a place where dinosaurs come to retire. As long as that is what it is, it will always remain a fifth-tier operation relative to the rest of the world.
BrianK, I don’t think I’m splitting hairs at all. Read this article: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Galaxy+shines+thanks+to+its+star:+one+year+after+Beckham,+attendance…-a0181855575
and then tell me if you still think Beckham leaving MLS would be financially beneficial.
Scott A,
You are splitting hairs by differentiating between MLS and AEG. It is costing the league big bucks to keep him in LA. Nevertheless,…some cold hard cash on top of all the media attention received the past two seasons would be pennies from heaven. BTW – Don’t kid yourself,…MLS will be impacted by the economic downturn. A significant transfer fee would be very welcome. Cash is King.
He looked miserable in LA the last half of the season. He grew a beard out as if he was trying to hide behind it.
While I hate to say it, I don’t see Becks coming back. He’s too much of a competitor (and vain) to stay at LA.
@Experience Dogood
If LA loses Beckham thier road attendance will drop, but thier home attendance won’t drop that much. LA has always supported the Galaxy, even before Beckham showed up, and fans will continue to be there after he is gone! Maybe there will be a few less famous people at the games, but who cares. The Galaxy are one of the few teams that actually make $$$$, and that was also true before Beckham came. Beckaham’s loss will only really hurt the attendance of all the other MLS teams that made a bunch of money whenever Beckham brought the circus to town (when teams would actually sell out games or move them to bigger stadiums).
Frankly, I don’t care if Beckham is here or not next year. I am just happy that Alexi and Ruud are gone, and it looks like Bruce is starting to build a real team.
Viva LA Riot Squad!
I think he loves being an ambassador for the game in the US and is sincere in his desire to help grow soccer in America. And getting that huge deal from MLS/Galaxy didn’t hurt either. But I sense he regrets the decision because, say what you want haters, he is still a great player, far too good for MLS. The Galaxy’s woes do not land at his feat. No one player can turn around a team. thus the word team. He may have thought he could. Or wished he could. They guy probably wants out of MLS and who can blame. I for one am torn. I love him in MLS for raising the bar and bringing attention to our market. But I’d much more enjoy watching play at Milan. Tough call.
Whatever, If he leaves he leaves. MLS better get a lot of money for him though. If they don’t they are fools.
Jacob A,
” The guy has scored goals for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and AC Milan. Can a resume get much better than that?”
Yeah, it can! Man U, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan….Oh wait! LA Galaxy?!? LA=Major Resume BuzzKill.
briank, I’m not sure that Beckham leaving would be financially advantageous for MLS. Even though times will be tough, and you said MLS would not have to pay him, MLS itself is only paying 400k a year and AEG is more than making up any money they’re paying him with endorsements and jersey sales. I talked about this on a previous post but I think it’s important to understand
I am sure Gillette, sharpie pens, addidas, his cologne company, and the countless other sponsors have something to say about it.
This is a more complicated than just selling him off to milan. AEG ownes a % of his image rights IIRC.
he’ll be back 100% once his loan spell is over..mark my words
Let him go and buy Riquelme with the money. Screw soccer moms and their daughters.
I’m a little surprised, but not that surprised by this. I was never one of the guys saying Beckham was “done,” but I also thought he was not much more than a 20-minute super sub at the highest level.
I am surprised he is apparently the starting right mid now. Although, to be fair, Milan don’t really have a natural right midfielder. Good for him.
He’s also loved by his teammates wherever he goes so the heartfelt celebration didn’t surprise me. Beckham is a very loyal guy for the most part. I don’t see him totally screwing L.A. even if he secretly wants to stay at Milan. I think L.A. will receive a pretty penny for the transfer if it happesn.
Fraud. Hypocrite. Liar.
Describe Becks in three words.
LA should take a mighty hefter transfer fee and bid farewell to this con man.
Losing Beckham could be a good thing for the league. It would then not force them to promote the Galaxy, being a terrible franchise to promote, to all the media and teams that do things the right way can be promoted. This league was fine without Beckham and it will be just fine when he leaves again. If the league can get anything close to 10mil for him then they need to jump at it. He doesnt want to be in the MLS anymore. He chose the money when he signed the contract and didnt look at the fact that it is a 3rd division league that he cant change in 2 years and maybe he doesnt want to anymore. He did enough for the MLS and its time to move on. Edson Buddle or Alex Pato, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Maldini, Pirlo. The choice is easy. He doesnt want to say “I dont want to go back there” because he may have no choice but any logical human would know what he wants to do.
If MLS accepts less than $40M they are as dumb as they are stupid. My guess is Milan will offer something like $10-15M and MLS will laugh and they’ll laugh, and then he will play another year before this whole thing starts up again. My guess is that he will play another year, and then get Milan to give up $10M or so to bring him over. Everyone will save a little face, and Beckham gets to keep after his England spot for the last six months leading up to South Africa.
Let’s just call up Adidas and see what they want to do. They paid the loan amount and will probably pay some or all of the tranfer fee.
I read somewhere that Becks could opt out of his 5 year contract sometime this year. MLS will not want to lose him for nothing the way Real Madrid did. If pushed they will likely grant him a transfer and take the money and run. Also not granting a transfer to such a big name would cause a serious bad PR going toward the international respect its looking for and the potential stars its trying to attract.
If Milan want to pay $30-40 million for his services, then I’ll be okay with it. If not, he better be back here. Let’s not forget his contract with AEG includes $40 odd million in endorsements per year. Think of what AC Milan can get out of him with that too.
I hope he comes back, but at this point, he is probably having second thought about MLS. It is sad because i feel he has raised his level of play in Serie A due to the overwhelming talent level there. He has now proven to himself that he can still play at an elite level. MLS could be losing one of its only draws. maybe getting Del Piero will make him want to come back.
he’s really not that good! that ball was perfectly placed to him on that goal and i haven’t seen one “golden” ball from him since he’s been in italy. the only reason why he’s more productive now is because he’s around better players that can play the ball to him in make more things happen.
ps – ives, why weren’t you at nevada smith’s last night? and if you were, why is there no story up?
It’s nice to see that Beckham smile again. Special goal for Becks. Congrats David! I wouldn’t hate him at all for staying in Milan but if he wants to come back to LA then that shows his commitment.
If Beckham does not return to MLS, I will understand why. However, I would not condone staying with AC Milan. Beckham said he would be back, and he should keep true to his word.
Yes, MLS could use the money from his transfer fee. Yes, there isn’t much more upside to the Beckham hype in the US. But what about the message this conveys to Del Piero, Tierry Henry, and other foreign players which MLS may want to attract? How long before Beckham is having a good chuckle with Kaka, Rohnaldinho, Rooney, Gerrard, etc., about what a big mistake moving stateside was? MLS will continue to be a joke to quality European players. This will make signing such players much more difficult. Plus, lets not forget that attendance will drop considerably for every game LA plays, both home and away.
With that in mind, I hope Beckham stays. I make it fifty-fifty.
Experience
I love when Beckham scores and it’s not from a set piece. I love it. Dude still has it, not that I had any real doubt after his performance in the past year.
I think be biggest loss to MLS if he goes is the lack of a big name, after that I don’t think he brings the quality someone else would. Lets face it, he isn’t a good player if he is the main focus… but he can contribute if he has other players taking the pressure off of him.
He sells the game, tickets, and shirts. After that, I don’t think there is anything exceptional about him in MLS.
Beckham could probably get a transfer fee close to an expansion rights free. That would be some huge allocation cash for the Galaxy, as well as good money to continue to fund the league’s growth, particularly with the CBA negotiations.
Definitely a complicated situation now. He’s playing well over there, and he’s playing with great players in a great league. The thought of coming back to MLS where they game is consider a second-tier sport and his teammates don’t know how to finish all the chances he creates for them – plus no Donovan next season – and you really can’t blame him.
That said, I don’t see how they can get around his MLS contract. Anyone think Adidas would pull some strings on his behalf?
Dump his salary, and take a HEFTY transfer fee, if the Italians don’t pay though, keep him.
He’ll be back for 2009. He said he would, and I believe him. After that, I wouldn’t be shocked if he did opt out.
He sure looks much happier in this clip than at any time last year that I can recall.
When the loan deal to Milan was announced I predicted (on this blog) that there would be consternation regarding his return. It only remains to be seen if this talk of his staying in Milan heats up or cools off over the next four weeks or so. He must remain injury free and productive over these next four weeks to consider staying in Milan. Frankly, I don’t care if he stays or comes back.
so he has Premier League, Third Divison, La Liga, MLS, and and now Serie A goals to his name. Im thinking the only other thing he needs is either a bundesliga goal or ligue 1 goal. haha. im not a huge fan of the guy but ill give him respect. he has one of the best resumes in football
I think he’ll fight to stay till June and then come back.
Excellent post, briank. The wife may, unfortunately, be a crucial factor here.
Becks is not coming back.
Nuff said.
Oh Landon isnt coming back either.
Beautiful goal. I don’t think he will stay. Hard to say if those quotes were taken out of context, but that could have also happened.
I believe it would be a win-win for MLS and Bechham if he transferred to Milan. His 1 1/2 year stay in MLS brought an enormous amount of attention to the league. Whatever MLS paid Beckham to date was totally worth it. If Milan were willing to drop $10M to acquire him,…MLS should jump at it. Times will be tough over the next couple of years for MLS and that money,…and NOT having to pay Beckham will go a long way.
As for Beckham,…it seems he is proving himself worthy of shirt at Milan,…not to mention that he will sell some tops as well. If it suits him, his wife and gets him called into the England team,…all the better.
Pay up Milan. Good luck David!
Okay, I still lean 60/40 he’s coming back, but let’s think about this: The guy has scored goals for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and AC Milan. Can a resume get much better than that?
I can’t imagine MLS would let him go before the contract is up unless the money is huge.