Beckham to U.S.? Galaxy Can Dream
Today Landon Donovan, tomorrow ... David Beckham?
Beckham, star Real Madrid midfielder and international pop-culture icon, stopped by the Galaxy’s home stadium Thursday to announce the creation of the David Beckham Soccer Academy, to be based at the Home Depot Center. But it didn’t take long for the thrust of the news conference to focus on Beckham’s recent statements about wanting to play someday in the United States.
“Yes, I did say I would consider it,” Beckham said. “Because through my career, things have happened and I’ve moved on from those things. I never thought that I would ever be playing anywhere apart from Manchester United, and then I make the move to the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid.
”... Things happen. Playing in America does interest me a lot.”
With the formation of his Los Angeles-based soccer academy, Beckham already has a business relationship with AEG and its president, Tim Leiweke. Beckham, 30, has two years remaining on his Real Madrid contract, but when that agreement expires and Beckham has the option of testing Major League Soccer, would the AEG-owned Galaxy be his U.S. team of choice, if and when?
Leiweke is already fantasizing about the possibility.
“David knows he has a long-term partnership with us,” Leiweke said. “I think it would be amazing for the sport in this country [if he played for the Galaxy]. I think it would be amazing for the legacy of David Beckham. We’ll leave that up to him. He’s currently under contract, so I’m not allowed to tamper.”
Leiweke paused and smiled.
“Although I think I just did.”
Beckham said he has visited Los Angeles “five or six times” and loves Southern California. He said he hopes to play professional soccer for “hopefully another four, five, six years” and he envisions his family one day living in the United States.
“All I can do is dream,” Leiweke said. “To dream about that, suddenly the Galaxy become a world [renowned] team. And I think even more than everything that it does for us on the pitch, the more important thing is what it does for us [internationally]....It would be huge.”
