The Los Angeles Galaxy will listen to offers for David Beckham, but the Englishman isn't about to come cheap just because he let it be known he wants to leave.
The Galaxy has rejected an initial $10 million offer for Beckham from AC Milan, setting the stage for what should be interesting transfer talks during the next month. Beckham is set to return to the Galaxy on March 9, which gives AC Milan one more month to make an offer that they and the Galaxy can live with.
The opening offer is a decent-sized one for a player who reportedly has an out clause that would allow him to leave the Galaxy after the 2009 season. That isn't stopping Los Angeles from asking for top dollar for the 33-year-old midfielder.
What do you think of this development? Glad Los Angeles is playing hardball? Think the Galaxy will end up botching this deal? How much would you pay for Beckham if you were Milan?
Share your thoughts below.
Mario in SJ, I think you’re on the right track.
Here are my changes though
1. Tickets: 10K extra tickets to all LAG games. At $10 each that’s about $3M.
-Is $10 right? That seems awfully cheap to me, but I don’t know what numbers to use, so lets go with your $3M.
2. Sponsor: $2M extra for the Herbalife name on the shirt.
-Deal is $4-5M per year for 5 years I believe, so loss is $4.5M.
3. Shirt sales: 50K shirts at $50 profit each for $2.5M.
-They sold 300K shirts in 2007 per Forbes (remember, this is not only in the US but worldwide). So we have say $12.5M.
4. Excellent player in top form with a 1 season contract: $5M
-Ok
My numbers total $25M, not counting the reduced ticket sales at other MLS venues and TV coverage from ESPN/FSC/etc. and the new ex-US deal they just signed.
Based on this, I’m guessing Milan have to offer in the neighborhood of $30 million to make it economically worthwhile for AEG and MLS.
Beck’s price tag should be $30m – $40m. Many of you might think i am crazy but considering how much revenue Beck brings to MLS its not that far off.
Plus, I don’t think Beck is going to opt out next season. Beck is going to make more money in MLS then any other European team. In fact, i think he will even resign with MLS with a condition to be loaned out to another European team next season.
The crazy part is the sort of money the Galaxy could lose out if Beckham leaves. They need to protect the investment, and Beckham needs to understand that aspect.
His jersey sales are worth more than 10 mil. He has the best selling jersey of any sport in the world.
He sells the most tickets for all the events he is involved in. MLS, cups, and beyond. You can’t discount this.
The marketing and endorsements are crazy too.
MLS has to recoup all of this. Thats a lot of money.
I’m sure Becks lawyers are at this moment figuring a way to soak AC in this deal to makeup for his projected loss of revenue from this failed LA gimmickry.
MLS and LAG have a lot to lose over this deal and they should hold him true to his contract just in spite if AC is unwilling to budge. All this noise about soccer in the States a month before the season starts?… Stadium attendance and shirt sales is worth it for MLS to keep him through this year.
Unless LA can find a replacement that scores goals and fills seats…
Beckham has a lot of cred to lose over this deal
AC Milan has been playing “we’re bigger than you” from the start. Well, because they are. I think they believe they can just make the MLS shake in their shorts.
The MLS needs to show some backbone without being naively thick headed.
It is a delicate situation, but I would encourage the MLS not to roll over. Push back a little, gain some respect, and cut DB loose. I would imagine AC Milan will have to pony up some more money. They know Beckhams marketing and money power.
If Beckham stays, I don’t think he will be a total jerk–he just isn’t that kind of guy publicly. However, he might (in all sincerity) not be at his peak performance mentally. He would play, work hard, and leave for free in 09.
Also, remember his option to buy into the MLS in the future. There is good reason to do that. I don’t think he is leaving hte MLS because he hates it. I think he is leaving because he is a player, and not a pioneer. He is a player who craves top-flight soccer, attention, player ability, and glory. AC offer more of that to him than MLS.
Ok, this is what LA should ask for:
~Andriey Schevchenko
~13 Million Pounds
~5-7 % of total shirt sales or other Beckham-related AC Milan merchandise.
If not Scheva then a couple of youth or reserve teamers at AC Milan (of LA’s choice) on a season-long loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.
Posted by: Nick C | February 07, 2009 at 06:06 PM
Okay… even Beckham isn’t worth that much. They might get 13 mill euros, remember only the british use pounds, but I doubt they’d also get Schevchenko and revenues from jersey sales. LA has some bargaining position, but not that much. The buyout clause in Becks’ contract ensures that.
LA has to make sure they get money out of this because it’s quite clear Beckham will leave for free at the end of the season if they don’t. I think they should look to get 15 million dollars, giving them 10 million to pay the transfer fee for a replacement (not to mention what they’ll probably have from Donovan’s transfer too). I do think they could possibly try to get a youth player or two from Milan on loan though.
Maybe this is the old Metro fan in me talking, but I would love for the Galaxy to bring back their old colors and emblems. Seems if you going to purge him out then purge all that was part of that “era.”
If I was Arena, I would basically hope for Milan to not offer enough. Then I would keep Beck on the bench the whole season. And force him to go on Fox Football Phone IN. LOL. MLS is none for screwing the “average Joe” player. Its about time they did the same to the Becks.
Out Clause?
Who knows if it exists and if it does what are the conditions, buyout paid by Beckham?
Without details there is no way to evaluate the impact on the current situation!
Jimmy Bullard who is out of contract this summer at Fulham and stated his desire to leave if they didn’t give him the contract he wanted, sold for $7.5 Million in the January transfer window. I can’t see how Beckham isn’t worth at least twice that much. I think $15 to $20 Million is a very reasonable price.
is schevchenko on loan?
Well played Galaxy. AC Milan, “Show Me The Money!”
JoeW is right on all points. There is a tremendous fondness for Beckham amongst fans and other players around the world. If you read the foreign press, people are extremely excited for him that he is doing well again. No one (apart from some media, not all) is trashing MLS, they are just happy for Becks — at this point. They also understand the value of playing in a World Cup and are impressed by the effort he is putting in to stay in consideration for his country’s team.
I think there will be more of a chance of “the world” and international players thinking poorly of MLS if they don’t let Beckham go than if they did. Obviously Galaxy fans will be unhappy either way at this point because they are already pissed off at Beckham for his poor performance and dip in attitude for the second half of last season.
Ok, this is what LA should ask for:
~Andriey Schevchenko
~13 Million Pounds
~5-7 % of total shirt sales or other Beckham-related AC Milan merchandise.
If not Scheva then a couple of youth or reserve teamers at AC Milan (of LA’s choice) on a season-long loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.
I look for the Galaxy to make hash of this and the coming season. (see Galaxy/Lalas 2008 for examples).
off topic.. I saw somewhere that man u is coming to jersey to play red bulls this year.. Any one know date?
Beckham is worth 45 million easy
Mario, I thinks thats a good first guess. I wonder what other marketing deals does the MLS have that depend on Beckham.
I would like to see a transfer fee of $15 million, plus a summer tour by Milan to play three or four MLS teams, including the Galaxy. That way we pick up some ticket sales from the Ronaldinho/Beckham/Kaka appearances. Plus, the Galaxy fans would get a final farewell for Beckham (we’ll have to think of what’s appropriate. . .). I think a tour would maximize the deal compared to the “All-Star” game.
Agreed… but I’d make his worth $10 million… grand total: $17.5 mil
If the player wants to go you have to let him go. I agree that LA needs to be compensated appropriately. Just off the top of my head here are some numbers
1. Tickets: 10K extra tickets to all LAG games. At $10 each that’s about $3M.
2. Sponsor: $2M extra for the Herbalife name on the shirt.
3. Shirt sales: 50K shirts at $50 profit each for $2.5M.
4. Excellent player in top form with a 1 season contract: $5M
That totals $12.5M. If his get out clause for the last two years is not iron tight then the price would be higher.
What do you folks think?
People aren’t considering the fact that big tranfer fees come beacuse a player is tied to a team in a multiyear contract. Beckham is less than a year away from walking out of Galaxy through his Clause. If he is not sold and has to comeback Galaxy will lose on two points. First, Beckham will just go through the motions mostly likely worse than he has in the past. Second, when the season is over he will leave to Milan on a free transfer anyway. Galaxy has to take what any money they get offered or they lose big time in this transaction.
Beckham was absolute garbage in the Reggina game today. The fact that AC Milan has much better players than the Galaxy covers up all of Beckham’s weaknesses–in particular his inability to get back on defense as he is really, really slow. His speed is only going to decline more. That said, if I were the Galaxy, I wouldn’t accept anything less than $20 million. If Beckham doesn’t like it, he can refuse to play for the Galaxy, but he won’t play for anyone else, including the English National Team. And by the way, I realize that MLS is crap compared to Serie A, but what does it say about Beckham’s ability that he couldn’t do crap in MLS–maybe other MLS teams are better than people think, and Beckham is worse.
kahiva, 2 words: salary cap
kahlva,
they can’t use all that money for players because of the salary cap. I believe they can only use it for another DP and they get a sizeble chunk of allocation money for a player transferring to use for a signing bonus or two.
$20 million is perfectly reasonable. Yes he’s old, but Milan will get a lot more from Beckham besides what they get on the field.
It’s not the same as if say, United were asking for $20 million for Ryan Giggs.
agree with jim b. He is in form, producing and his name brings jersey sales and free advertising. If they can’t sell him, he will be useful on the field, and in jersey sales–perhaps more than the transfer fee that they’d get.
Here’s a question:
Don’t the Galaxy get 2/3 of the transfer price? So if Beckham leaves for $15 million… the Galaxy suddenly have about $10 million to spend on player acquisition!?
Can they really suddenly spend 10 MILLION DOLLARS bringing players in? Talk about non-parity in the league!
Related to that – did the Red Bulls get $6 million from Jozy Altidore?? If so, where are the players??
im glad mls and galaxy are attempting to stand up to beckham and milan…get the most money possible!
They’ve got to push for $15-20 million
I think that offer is BS! They need to pay at least in the $15mm TO $20mm range. AEG/MLS own his contract and is not in anybodys best interest to just lay down to Milan. David wants to go then he needs to tell Milan to make a better offer. Will this hurt MLS maybe but worse is if they rollover and just let Becks and Milan do what they want. This is about respect in a way. I know MLS level is not Serie A but it is not to bad – a guy that played the last two years in MLS just walked in at Milan and is starting. Landon Donovan is making the bench at Bayern. And those guys on the same MLS team missed the playoffs the last two years. I know we are looked at as Mickey Mouse but get this wrong and it will keep that notion going for years.
This is silly. Here’s the deal…
1. David Beckham doesn’t want to be with LAG. And teams can stamp around all they wanting insisting “he’s our player” but the reality of top flite football is that it’s bad to have a player on your roster who doesn’t want to be there. And Beckham has made it pretty clear he doesn’t want to be.
2. The people who are talking about good riddance, he’s no good as a player, not as good as JRR or only good at deadballs but also should get the same money in transfer fee of an Arshavin and letting their pique cloud their judgment:
–Beckham is a lot older than those other players.
–Beckham is still clearly a fine player.
3. There is some value to MLS letting Beckham go easily. Right now, it’s clearly been shown that it’s really tough to get world class talent to sign for MLS. Despite all the rumors about Zidane and George Weah and what not, the reality is that if the message we send to future Beckhams is…come here and don’t like it and you’re hosed, then we get fewer guys with big names and big games to take a risk. Now maybe that’s not a bad thing, maybe we need to forget trying to sign guys like Henry or even Angel in the future and just focus on lesser known talents (like Ruiz) or guys from lower leagues (Dichio).
4. Here is what I see as a worst case scenario:
–LAG fails to sell Beckham
–Beckham doesn’t want to be in MLS
–Desperate to still stay with the English NT, he gets gets and accepts callups during the season (which all that travel and extra games) increases his chances of injury.
–LAG gets to say “FU” to Milan, Beckham is soured on MLS, future big names think twice before signing with MLS, and he leaves on a free at the end of the season. But hey, we sure showed some cojones to them Italians!
It’s important to see the big picture here. Regardless of what LAG things they deserve or what is their right, the idea at this point is to make the transfer quickly and as painlessly as possible (so Arena can get a new signing), Beckham talks about how MLS behaved with class, MLS and LAG get a chunk of change and we all move on. Maybe Lieweke likes to play poker and believes he can get this up to $15 million but to me, the transfer fee matters but is not first on the list of critical outcomes here.
12 Million GBP or $17.7 Million US (13.7 Mil. Euro). You heard it here first!
Don’t forget that the dollar is much stronger than it used to be. LA is going to have a hard time getting the value they want for him…
MLS and Galaxy officials have to agree on fees together….I think.
According to Forbes uncle Phil is worth 7.8 billion. I don’t think Becks walking out will make him lose any sleep. On the other end, Berlusconi is worth a bit more than 9 billion….I think he can cough up 15 million and some spare Ukranian parts if he really wants DB.
maybe he does not have an escape clause??
Galaxy and MLS should insist on a friendly as well. AllStar game against AC Milan would be great.
The thing that I haven’t heard discussed is how much marketing, jersey sales, and other impact a Bechkam move would have to MLS. I know in the NFL, if a player changes numbers or his name (see Chad Johnson aka “Ocho Cinco”), he either has to wiat for the next year or pay the difference for all outstanding jerseys already printed. That usually is not an insignificant amount.
So, I would suspect that Beckham may have to shell out some cash for fees incurred or planned – in addition to any transfer fee. $20M in total sounds about right.
Plus, Milan aren’t going to start with their best offer. This seems like Standard negotiations.
I think it is good they are trying to get the most they can, but the Galaxy shouldn’t be too over the top in what they ask for or they might be stuck with him. Which I think would be a bad scenario on all ends.
Wow, what a display of Grandes Nachos by the MLS and Galaxy!
of course the galaxy botch the deal. they’ll get their money in the end but only after they’ve pissed off everybody– tim lieweke is a fool, liar or both. can’t wait to see what other big name they bring to ruin any chemistry they might have built under arena.
Good for the Galaxy, Force them to pay at least 20 million. Then buy a better player using the designated player spot.
lol at the histrionics
Count me as remaining 100% confused at MLS procedures. I thought the contracts were done by MLS, and it was the league who bought/sold/transferred. Now it’s the Galaxy doing all the decision-making. Of course that’s how I think it should be, but not the way it’s been during MLS history.
Galaxy should take it! Becks will walk away from the galaxy for free in October.. So AEG should take the money and let him go. He was a bust anyway..
Considering what Bellamy, Arshavin and Dejong required for a move, Becks in worth at least 15-20 million. He’s still a great player and sells jerseys like none other. Milan will step up and make an offer MLS cannot refuse.Wonder what he woulda been worth if he didn’t have an out clause…25 mill?
I’m glad LA is taking a hard stand against Milan. Make them pay, make that English Punk sweat it out. C. Blanco did more for the MLS than Becks. I knew it from the beginning this would be a bust move. You pay that kind of money for a Messi, a Dinho, Ronaldo but for a guy who is just good at Dead ball kicks?!!??! Please, that is pathetic. Riquelme is just as good on dead ball kicks and he is more of player that makes more of a difference on the pitch. So you know what….see ya later David, hardly ever knew ya. Punk, traitor, quitter.
AWESOME! Beckham is piece of meat. Who cares what HE wants. Its about what is best for the Galaxy and the MLS. If he leaves the MLS in disgrace, the league suffers, because it is an admission that the league sucks and all the other potential “future David Beckhams” might be scared to come here…Good move by the Galaxy…
Good for the Galaxy.
If Milan, one of the world’s biggest clubs, “desperately” want him (like they say), then they should be prepared to pay top dollar.
Beckham should be sold for $15-20 million. (And I’m not even sure how to factor in jersey sales and his ability to attract fans…)
Oh, and my prediction: Beckham gets hurt within the next 9 months….
Take that Capello!!!
He is behind all this saga. Beckham is really not needed in my gaLAxy but I’m glad the team is playing hardball with the so-called giants from Europe.