A day after the Los Angeles Galaxy appeared to slam the door on a Beckham transfer to AC Milan now comes word from Milan that the Italian giants have come out and are basically ignoring the Galaxy's claims that the door is closed on a permanent Beckham move.
According to AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, Milan is still very much in position to sign Beckham. Milan's chief executive, Adriano Galliani, went as far as to call the Galaxy's deadline a "tactic."
Who do you believe? Think AC Milan is being a bit arrogant, or are they simply seeing through the Galaxy's attempts to squeeze a large transfer fee out of Milan for Beckham? Is Milan trying to save face or are the Galaxy just trying to ease fears among season-ticket holders as the MLS season draws closer?
Share your thoughts on the latest from the Beckham soap opera in the comments section below.
I can only speak for a few stores, but Dick’s sporting goods has Beck jerseys and no Fire gear. I know any any sale is good for the MLS, but I’d be happy to see other players get some product in the stores, minus DB product.
AC Milan are a bunch of pompous bastards. This is not a little bit arrogant, this is REALLY arrogant.
The deal is dead, he’s going no where. They can keep calling, doesn’t mean that AEG has to pick up the phone.
Great picture Ives cause when I read the comments following it that is the same face i made I call it my “Oh.. hell” face.
This was all a ploy from the beginning. MLS needed to loan out david and LD to help generate stateside interest in the game. Face it, Beckham will not have the same luster -as today- after another season in the MLS. But them again if he and his team mates actually do something this year in LA that increases his stock on the World market.. good for him
Now lets see Beckham play with the same passion here. The guy has been exposed and needs to prove his worth now.
This is how all European teams act from Real Madrid to Barcelona most European clubs use this tactic for example Barcelona 18 months of courting Thierry Henry. What makes Ac Milan any different. It simple for Galaxy you not going to get $20 Million dollars for Beckham. Sell him now get a player or a friendly where the gate receipts go to Galaxy. And move on…..
i hate both of these teams… and beckham. why do i actually care about this?
Mike D, nobody is forgetting that Becks has an out clause in his contract. Have you seen it and can you vouch for the fact that Beckham doesn’t have to pay anything and there are no string attached??
Forgetting what , like i said worth more this season than whatever there willing to pay! Plain and Simple!
Why do people keep insisting that he has a clause that will let him leave after 2009? If you guys are true “sbi mafia” members you would have read the last line from sbi’s story on 2/11/09.
“Garber also confirmed that Beckham does have an out clause in his MLS contract after the 2009 season.”
So please enough already with the idiotic commets regarding him walking away for free!
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/02/mls-ac-milan-has-friday-deadline-to-buy-beckham.html
I might add that the Galaxy standing up to 1 of the storied franchises in soccer is a plus for MLS, Milans arrogance is so evident here , your talking about a team that is so stoopid it would sell it’s best player for tons of money(no Loyalty). Hey if there still interested call up The Red Bulls we will take KaKa to open up the new stadium in 2010 – 150 million for Red Bull is a drop in the bucket and we can send them Conway for there goal keeping problems!
People are forgetting that Becks has an out clause in his contract. If they don’t take the Milan money they stand to gain nothing if Beckham bolts after this season (which he will). This is all about business.
It’s Valentine’s Day, and people still love to hate Beckham. 🙂
Bottom line here is that he is worth more to the league $ wise than whatever Milan is willing to offer! Plain and simple.
The only justice is… becks stays in milan, he makes it on the 2010 squad they make it to the round of 8 and they lose to the US…HA!!! I would love it!!!
Beckham will be back in March, Milan is thinking they are calling mls’s bluff, but this is over.
Leiweke makes the final call on this and he has routinely said the right offer has to come along and then he set a deadline that said the right offer has to come along by this last friday. And that offer did not come, case closed, this is over.
The reason that this is over is because Leiweke is a BIG time mls executive, he’s president and ceo of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is the company that pretty much saved mls from extinction earlier this decade by taking over 6 clubs, Leiweke is also the guy that proposed the DP rule in the first place. The man has some serious clout with the league office.
For sporting reasons I think David should to go to Milan, but he has a mls contract and unfortunately for him Milan have seriously misplayed their hand on this, there was no bluff from mls, thus David will be back in states come March.
Oh Marky Mark, how I love you. Come join me at an MLS game and I’ll drown you in a couple of tall beers.
New MLS marketing idea: “Take an idiot, Euro-lovin’, soccer poser who has never been out of their mother’s basement let alone to Europe to an MLS game month.”
AC Milan can pay enough to make up for all of the cancelled season-tickets and the move of games from larger stadiums to smaller ones (see Oakland instead of San Jose and Arrowhead instead of the Wiz’ baseball park) and all the lost advertising and jersey-sales revenues.
Or they can shut up and go home. None of us cares whether Beckham is “vital to AC Milan” or not.
Honestly, now that the MLS have trapped themselves into this dumb corner, they need to stay strong and not back down. Beckham will opt out of his contract as soon as he can, count on it, but he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the mean time if his track record can be believed.
http://endlines.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/its-all-about-england-and-it-always-has-been/
I think this is playing out great for the MLS. He ends up coming back he is pissed papers all over the world talk about the MLS all season. Way more press that could ever be bought for the $10 Million that they offered. So he leaves at the end of the this season. Everyone will be tired of him by then anyway.
If the dream continues to form Beckham plays in Europe next season makes it to the World Cup and the US is drawn with England in group play.
DRAMA is Good.
As I understand things stand, Beckham can opt out of his contract with MLS at the end of the next season and walk away on a free. Even if he is somehow worth the mythical $10-$20 mil to the league if he stays until then the bad blood and bad press engendered by this process will certainly terminate any possible future relations with Becks and, potentially, other stars considering MLS in the future.
Sell him now (especially if an offer is in the $15 mil range) and the good press of a major sale of a big player to a huge team in a top league will off-set the short-term gains (if they materialize- injuries, etc. happen).
This also keeps open the possibility of Becks returning to MLS later in some capacity (owner?) and sets a precedent for other stars considering MLS.
Sean,
I agree that having them back (LD and DB) would be good for them and for the Galaxy if they put their heart and soul into playing. Disappointment aside, i don’t know why they would not.
I hope Donovan goes elsewhere, if not now, eventually. But I think his time at FCB has already paid dividends to him in both skill and confidence.
I think Beckham can grow as a man by staying at LA, as he would be called on to a more pioneer role. But as a player, I can fully appreciate his desire to play top flight soccer at Milan. After not appreciating him for years, I have certainly grown in my respect (albeit before the Milan discussions) for him, but I have overestimated how mature his character is. Still, he seems a good man who knows enormous pressure and publicity, and I would hope that staying here one more year might prove good for him. He would learn about adversity on a different level.
LA still needs a whole team that can think as a team and a goalkeeper that can stop balls.
CBR,
I think you’re highly mistaken about what David Beckham will bring to MLS. No matter how much people spend in relation to him, his salary is going to drastically reduce the profit and benefit to the league.
He is not bringing any new meaningful attention to the league. While people like him, they definitely do not believe he’s going to somehow be a star player on the field anymore, especially after a first season plagued by injury and a largely uninteresting second season.
And, therefore, people are also less likely to buy his merchandise. I know that any interest I had in Beckham merchandise has dried up. There was a swift drop-off in impact that his attendance to matches had with compared to his first season. That drop-off is just going to increase this season.
He’s not going to make the league $20-40 million. No way. No how. Maybe $10 million.
Any endorsements he receives will not create the league any incredible profit. If we’ve learned anything since 1996 and prior it’s that the only growth that is meaningful is slow and arduous. Americans are already tired of Beckham as he relates to the LA Galaxy.
In fact, probably more people are excited about Beckham as he relates to AC Milan than the LA Galaxy. Nothing against MLS. It is the league I invest my time and money in. This is just reality.
What makes me happy is that over the last 8 months we have seen the two biggest, most arrogant clubs in the world (Real Madrid and Milan) realize that for once they won’t get whatever they want. They need to understand that contracts are contracts and they don’t just get ripped up because they want them to be ripped up. The Galaxy own Beckham for the next year at least, and Manchester United own Ronaldo until the end of the 2011-12 season. That means that if they don’t want to sell them, they don’t have to. Potential buyers need to understand that the selling club is the one with all the power. If they don’t want to sell, they simply don’t have to.
I also think AC Milan is being arrogant. I say if AC Milan comes back with anything less than $15million, just kill the deal for good no matter how much they up the stakes in the future. Don’t let them d*ck around with the league.
But, Arena, LA fans, and the club deserve a resolution to it all so I hope this is over. I think Donovan will be back. He is not producing the way he’d have to in order to command the sort of money that MLS would want for him (easily $10-15million or more). Donovan is worth so much to this league, making it much harder for him to get out of here.
Beckham and Donovan back for LA could be good for them, especially as the rookies are gaining more experience and discipline.
matt you can say it a million times and it doesn’t make it true, no matter how many exclamation points you use. have you personally perused beckham’s contract to see he can leave for free?
Matt, he will leave in NOVEMBER because they will make the playoffs. 🙂
True, for free, but imagine what they can do and make with him for the rest of the year? And selling too low sets a precedent. I admire what the MLS are doing. I don’t think they are showing inexperience. Beckham is their prize player (from a promotional standpoint). AC Milan is not talking about a 150 mill deal for Kaka. They can have Becks if they want him for 22 million. They know if they want him or not–they do–now they are going to find out MLS will not roll over on their cash cow.
I don’t think most Galaxy season ticket holders want him back!
matt,
Beckham will bring in 20-40million to MLS this year alone if he stays.
learn a little about the business before u call ppl idiots
Matt, hold your horses… Negociating is not over. Relax
What’s wrong with you people that say the Galaxy should stick to their guns and keep Beckham. How many times do I have to tell people that he will leave in October for Free! 11 million is better than nothing! Idiots!
I am completely behind the Galaxy and MLS trying to get as much as they can out of this deal. Of course the deadline is a tactic! I like seeing MLS flex their muscle in the international market for really the first time.
Milan would have said this whether or not it was the case. They are arrogant. They think they can dictate the agenda. Good on MLS and the Galaxy for being tough.
Having only the limited press reports to go by (and thankfully SBI), the Beckham saga suggests to me a lack of MLS inexperience in this type/magnitude of transfer.
MLS and the Galaxy undoubtedly have bright and successful people handling negotiations but I get the feeling that the executives at AC Milan are to the transfer market like Serie A players are to MLS players – more experienced and therefore talented in this type of transaction.
If this hypothesis is true I take it as good news. MLS and the US soccer community will learn be that much more effective as the league grows and we start to attract more world class players in their prime.
The deal won’t be dead if AC Milan offers enough cash, players and friendlies. Any combination of those three could make it happen.
Beckham can add in his own money to make a deal happen. What’s a few million to Becks? It all depends on how badly he wants to get away from Tom Cruise.
In any other sport this would be considered tampering.
who knows how it will play out, in the end.
I think it would be bad if MLS reneges on their “do or die by Friday” call. That said, yes, it is AC Milan business tactical/arrogance that fuels this. If they want him now, pay 22 mil and pay it now. Otherwise, shut up and get him for free at the end of the season.
I would welcome Becks back for sure. But if he does end up going, I look forward to what the Galaxy do with all that cash.
Is Donovan not far behind? We have heard no numbers, and I don’t htink the MLS is going to cut him out cheap, now, either. Landon’s profile is rising, his game is improving, and some former haters are singing his praises (even if he is ONLY a SUB, lol). Hard to let that guy go, too.
I PRAY LA really sticks to their guns, because this arrogance and ego on Milan’s part is disgusting. I hope MLS shoves it up their ***. Unless the offer is over 20 million of course,lol
I think Ives has hit it on the head…the powers that be at Milan are arrogant, and have not shown one ounce of respect to MLS since this all started. The Galaxy are trying to sell season ticket packages, and thats hard to do with Beckham in limbo. So, they gave them the deadline, Milan couldn’t (or wouldn’t) make the right offer, so it’s over. Done deal. Take that, all you Eurosnobs!!
Milan’s used to getting what they want, so if they want Beckham badly enough, they’ll get him. And it’d be better off for all parties if he stayed in Milan, too. That’s not a knock on Beckham; the Galaxy have too many needs for Beckham to be effective by himself, they should free up some salary space and acquire some midfielders and defenders.
Kudos to MLS for playing hardball, though. After all’s said and done, they either keep Beckham (and the ancillary $$$ his presence brings in) or get a boatload of cash. Berlusconi can afford to pay whatever Garber’s asking.
I would guess that the Galaxy would take anything north of $17 million, at any time.
http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_12681217.html
US Soccer thanks the fans..!!
Chelski…too funny
Very arrogant from the Milan camp, however I think I would rather have Beckham stay overseas. Our league will grow without or with Bronze Balls.
under contract..sorry pal
drogba wanted out of chelski…it didnt happen
c. ronaldo wanted to join Real Madrid…didnt happen
this is no different.
ACM are such scum bags, ….the spokesperson (Tim Lewikie)for the godfather himself (Anshultz) has spoken and thats that.
so let it be written…so let it be done
Interesting. Everyone has a price. But it looks like Milan just set itself up to see how high a price it takes to save face. Pretty stupid tactical move, although with Euro fan-base politics involving boards and such, it’s not surprising.
Only the Mafia can save a Beckham deal.
I’d rather talk about the USA. We rock.
GOLTV said england is reporting that garber extended the deadline a week and they will meet this week.
Belive ACM.
Look at the economy, Beckham’s as good as gone!
Coconutz!
First!!