Eternal optimist sportsman David Beckham is on the verge of signing a loan deal with AC Milan
Last updated 10/23/2008 2:46:49 PM
Eternal optimist sportsman David Beckham
Eternal optimist David Beckham is on the verge of signing a loan deal with top Italian club AC Milan to ensure he continues his remarkable career with England.
England manager Fabio Capello made it plain to 107 times capped Beckham that he would need to keep playing once the LA Galaxy season ends in America on Sunday(October 26) – and then promptly gave him a helping hand to link him up with the club he played for and whom he managed twice.
Milan, who have tried to capture him three times in the past, are so keen to push through a deal they plan to ask the Los Angeles club to extend the deal until the end of the season.
But Beckham is an iconic figure in LA and Galaxy are unlikely to allow much more than the already discussed two months and will expect him to report back for the opening of the new season in early April.
Beckham will not feel out of place at Milan where he will join 40 year old Paolo Maldini; Filippo Inzaghi and Dida, both two years older at 35; and 32 year olds Clarence Seedorf, Emerson, Alessandro Nesta and Andriy Shevchenko.
I would back fitness fanatic Beckham against any of them. He is a fanatic not only for training but also for general fitness, a fact appreciated by Capello when he recommended him to Managing Director Adriano Galliani and coach Carlo Ancelotti.
However, fitness is useless without match fitness.
Ancelotti responded the deal by telling the Italian press: "For me it will be a pleasure. He is a serious athlete and a great professional. I am hoping he will be available to us for four months.
"Our squad is ultra competitive and it will remain this way, but Beckham is something different and intriguing."
The key for Capello and Beckham is that his natural fitness will be translated into that all important match fitness and while Beckham is no longer first choice starter; he is a serious impact player to come off the bench to inspire team mates and supporters alike.
While he does not go past defenders – he never has – his crossing and his dead ball kicks remain potent weapons at any level of the game. The proof of practice making perfect.
Beckham needs only one more game for his country to equal the outfield record of Bobby Moore and that should come against Germany in Berlin next month, again off the bench.
What happens after that depends on how he settles in the sneaky and snarling Series A where he would become an instant target after a mid winter break to Dubai.
Amongst his first fixtures when the season resumes in January would be away to Roma, who have some of the most fanatical and violent supporters in the world, and a fierce the local derby against Inter which will pit him against former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
An England game against Spain in Madrid, where he lived for so long, will be a personal target on February 11 if the final details can be arranged and these milestones are just the sort of games which will keep his enthusiasm at fever pitch as he continues to write his name in the history of English football.
http://www.davidbeckham.com/