Beckham stays put for now

LONDON: England can breathe easy: David Beckham isn’t leaving for Spain, after all. Or so it seems.

After weeks of feverish speculation that the nation’s most famous sportsman and world football’s most marketable player was set to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid, the matter has apparently been put to rest. “Never, never, never, never,” Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said of the prospect of the England captain and star midfielder joining his team. “Not now, not ever.” “We have not spoken about David Beckham,” Perez added. “He has a contract with Manchester United. “He is not even halfway through that contract. We are very happy with the players we have. That is the end of the matter.” Perez spoke to reporters on Tuesday evening in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of top European clubs. Real Madrid also issued an official statement on their web site denying any approach for Beckham. “Despite the speculation surrounding this issue, Madrid have no intention of negotiating the transfer of Mr. Beckham,” it said.

Those were the words Manchester United officials wanted to hear. “I am delighted Mr. Perez has confirmed this in such an emphatic manner, but anyway, we at Manchester United never had any intention of selling him,” chief executive Peter Kenyon said. “I’m also assured by David’s people that they don’t want him to leave Manchester United.” However, not everyone is convinced Becks won’t be wearing the famous white shirt of Real Madrid next season. “Who you kidding?” screamed the back page headline in The Sun. “It’s Unreal” said the Mirror. Even the Spanish press was skeptical. “Madrid says it hasn’t done anything yet,” headlined the Madrid based sports daily AS. The reason for the doubts: Real Madrid made similar official denials in the past about big-name transfers which eventually came to pass. In August 2002, the club issued a statement denying any intention of signing Ronaldo — only for the Brazilian star to complete a multi-million-dollar transfer from Inter Milan three weeks later.