Beckham to Real!

[atatange1]

I was listening to TalkSport over the 'net. And they came in with a news break and said that Spanish media has confirmed that he will go to Real Madrid for 22m. UK press has not confirmed yet though.

[Marc Vaughan]

Beckham to stay at Man Utd imho - Ferguson wants him out, but he can't 'force' him to leave if he doesn't want to and Beckham is stubborn enough to outlast his manager imho (bear in mind this isn't the first time this has happened).

[vtbub]

Listening to BBC 5 Live now, will update asap.

[vtbub]

Real Madrid has said that Beckham has signed and a press conference should be within 24 hrs, according to BBC 5 Live.

[vtbub]

4 years-25 million Euros

[BreizhManu]

Originally posted by Marc Vaughan
Beckham to stay at Man Utd imho - Ferguson wants him out, but he can't 'force' him to leave if he doesn't want to and Beckham is stubborn enough to outlast his manager imho (bear in mind this isn't the first time this has happened).

And Ferguson is stubborn enough to keep him out of the field during all the season ;)

[Calis]

I just don't think Beckham is all that determind to stay, I think he'll leave if they want him to leave, which seems pretty obvious now.

edit: That is of course if those comments were speculation, if Becks said that for sure then I could be wrong. ;) Just going from what I've heard, and he made it pretty clear he'd leave if they wanted him to.

[vtbub]

Press conference scheduled for July 2nd.

[ice4277]

Most websites are now reporting that Real have confirmed the deal, and Beckham's agent was quoted saying a deal was imminent, if not already concluded. There is a press conference scheduled for tomorrow as well. July 2nd is the day he would be officially unveiled as a Real player.

[vtbub]

Considering it's the lead story on BBC domestic radio...I'd say it's true.

I'm surprised at how low the price was.

[3ric]

Originally posted by vtbub
4 years-25 million Euros

soccernet are reporting the price as €35 million.

[vtbub]

25 seemed real low to me.

And late word that Man U have confirmed it.

[bigdawg2003]

I don't follow soccer, so I was a little curious as to why Man U would sell its most popular (if not best) player. What is the beef with him and the coach?

[Sharpieman]

Now all Real needs is a better defense

[Neuqua]

Originally posted by Sharpieman
Now all Real needs is a better defense

That is really all they needed even before signing Beckham.

[3ric]

Originally posted by bigdawg2003
I don't follow soccer, so I was a little curious as to why Man U would sell its most popular (if not best) player. What is the beef with him and the coach?

Word has it that Ferguson loves Beckham the player, but hates Beckham the celebrity. The glamorous life he's living sticks out like a sore thumb for an old-fashioned Scotsman.

[CAsterling]

Originally posted by Neuqua
That is really all they needed even before signing Beckham.

Can't argue with that statement, Real will now have an abundance of midfielders, and trying to keep them all happy will be a major task.

I Guess this also means the end of Steve Mcmanaman's time at Real - now there 's a good instant replacement for Beckham, who could contribute more to the Man Utd Team than Beckham did last year.

[ColtCrazy]

Well, Ferguson's disliking of Beckham the celebrity is going to hurt Manchester Utd. He's an impact player, yes, but he's also their most recognizable player. And now that US tour looms, and they won't have him.....that will hurt the desire, and their already slim chances, of raising awareness of the Red Devils in the U.S.
I really question the timing of the move, and the move itself.

[Sharpieman]

Who does Man U. have now as impact player?

By the was The U.S. will be playing Turkey on Thursday and Brazil on Sunday this week. Tune in...although I don't think Brazil will have many if any of their star players at the match

[Calis]

Originally posted by CAsterling
I Guess this also means the end of Steve Mcmanaman's time at Real - now there 's a good instant replacement for Beckham, who could contribute more to the Man Utd Team than Beckham did last year.

I seriously doubt this one will happen. I'm almost 100% sure that McNamanaman has said he won't play in England again. The fans don't particularly care for him, and have made it pretty clear on several occasions.

Can't remember the whole story behind this, I'm sure someone else can enlighten, but I believe this is true.

[Critch]

It does seem a strange move for both clubs, Beckham being an important player for ManU, while Real Madrid could do with spending cash on defensive players not on an already over stocked midfield.

Maybe Man U had to sell Beckham, there have been some rumors that Beckham's black eye earlier this season wasn't caused by a boot accidentally thrown by his manager, but by the fists of one or more of his team mates. Ferguson took the blame as he's already got the reputation of a grumpy old hothead, and it was better than punchups between his players being reported at an important stage of the season.

If the rumors are true and Beckham is widely disliked by his team mates to the point of being a punchbag, then maybe Man U had to move him on.

As Michel said this week, Real Madrid don't need Beckham and should buy a defence instead, but I guess central defenders aren't sexy enough to sell soccer strips, plus it's a nice smack at their Barcelona rivals.

If Beckham was punched by a team mate, I'd be giving fairly short odds on the culprit being Roy Keane.

[rexallllsc]

Aren't they going after Duff, Ronaldinho, and Kewell?

[Mac Howard]

Real want Beckham for commercial reasons. They don't need him as a player. They have very little profile in the emerging Asian market where Beckham is a god. It's said that Utd no longer need him because of their own profile and a recent sponsership deal with Nike who will market Utd over there.

The $40 mllion plus will be useful to Utd in bringing in other players in a moribund transfer market. They could get two to three players for that. I think (hope) it takes Real out of the market for Ronaldinho who would certainly be a reasonable replacement in playing terms. Utd's playing style these days does not make as much use of Beckham as the old did.

Which players do Utd have that might be worth watching? Van Nistelrooy, Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Veron immediately come to mind as being worth the price of the ticket and a number of others are not far away from that (Ferdinand, Solskjaer ......). Even Barthez is good for a laugh :)

[Scholes]

Originally posted by Sharpieman
Who does Man U. have now as impact player?


Giggs, Veron, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy

Keane has a different type of "impact"

If they get Ronaldinho and/or Kewell, he'll replace Beckham, at least physically, adequately. Keane-O makes that team run though.

I've never seen anyone do things like Beckham does with a ball though. Crosses, shots, passes, anything.

Should make for an interesting summer.

[Easy Mac]

How does this (e)affect Man U's US tour? I don't think they'll attract as many non-soccer fans here in the state without Beckham. Granted, he's not a household name, but I think the allure of pretty, sverving balls is stronger than some the crap Man U shows sometimes.

Plus, I think people would rather see Beckham than Scholes and Keane.

[Axxon]

Originally posted by Easy Mac
but I think the allure of pretty, sverving balls is stronger than some the crap Man U shows sometimes.


Frankly I find it disturbing that you find pretty swerving balls alluring. Yikes!! Jesus Christ boy, don't you know you're in the south!!! ;)

[SirFozzie]

Here's the official terms for Beckham's transfer:

7.5 Million Euros, payable immediately.

17.5 Million Euros. to be paid over the next four years.

Up to 10 Million Euros, based on how Real Madrid perform in the Champions League.

So potential transfer value is 35 million Euros (41 Million Dollars), with guaranteed value of 25 million

[Darkiller]

The dream team :

Zidane - Raul - Figo - Ronaldo - Carlos - Beckham

this is amazing.

[Darkiller]

Also, let's just pray for them that they'll win the Liga this WE...or else things could get ugly in Madrid.

That's the issue with being loaded with superstars all over the field. If you finish short of being the champion, then it doesn't make any sense...and fans start screaming.

[MIJB#19]

Amazing...
The rumors were there for the last weeks, but this actually happening still makes me wonder how such a thing can happen:
Zizou, Becks, Figo, Ronaldo and Raúl on the same team...

What makes me wonder is how they will all fit into the line-up?
I know it is possible, but I wonder who will be the right winger (Becks or Figo), who will play the fake-left winger (Zizou, Raúl or Figo) and who will be the man behind Ronaldo (Figo, Zizou, Raúl, Becks)?

So now Real has the Portugese, French, Brazilian, English and Spanish superstars in one team.
Still missing is some Dutch blood since Clarence "Three CLs with different teams" Seedorf's departure.

For the people still wondering about Real not having a defense:
The decades old philosophy is that they don't want a defense, attacking fullbacks like Roberto Carlos and goalscoring defenders like Fernando Hierro are their type of defenders.
Maybe there should be a sticky about this since it comes up in every soccer thread in the last few weeks.;)

[Darkiller]

Figo is said to be soon traded to AC Milan or Inter Milan...

[BreizhManu]

Originally posted by MIJB#19
Amazing...
The rumors were there for the last weeks, but this actually happening still makes me wonder how such a thing can happen:
Zizou, Becks, Figo, Ronaldo and Raúl on the same team...

What makes me wonder is how they will all fit into the line-up?
I know it is possible, but I wonder who will be the right winger (Becks or Figo), who will play the fake-left winger (Zizou, Raúl or Figo) and who will be the man behind Ronaldo (Figo, Zizou, Raúl, Becks)?

So now Real has the Portugese, French, Brazilian, English and Spanish superstars in one team.
Still missing is some Dutch blood since Clarence "Three CLs with different teams" Seedorf's departure.

For the people still wondering about Real not having a defense:
The decades old philosophy is that they don't want a defense, attacking fullbacks like Roberto Carlos and goalscoring defenders like Fernando Hierro are their type of defenders.
Maybe there should be a sticky about this since it comes up in every soccer thread in the last few weeks.;)

what's going to happen :

- Figo traded
- Zidane on the left
- Beckham on the right
- Raúl behind Ronaldo
- Makelele staying as the Defensive Midfielder (he'd like a contract renewal but not sure he'll get it, so he might leave, but who could replace him ???)

about the defense, Roberto Carlos is not a defender, he plays on the defense but that's all. And Hierro is just too old.

[MIJB#19]

Originally posted by BreizhManu
what's going to happen :

- Figo traded
- Zidane on the left
- Beckham on the right
- Raúl behind Ronaldo
- Makelele staying as the Defensive Midfielder (he'd like a contract renewal but not sure he'll get it, so he might leave, but who could replace him ???)

about the defense, Roberto Carlos is not a defender, he plays on the defense but that's all. And Hierro is just too old. Figo traded?
That would be a shame...

Concerning Roberto Carlos, that's my opinion too.
All Roberto Carlos does is running upfield for crosses, long shots and free kicks.
Kinda like Mike Alstott, the famous Buccaneers fullback (who actually is a running back.)

Hierro is old, but he is a good example of what kind of defenders Real Madrid has had the past 15 years...

[BreizhManu]

well in a 4-4-2, Figo could play behind Raúl and Ronaldo too, but the defense isn't really good a(Helguera is good and Pavon promising but Roberto Carlos and Salgado don't defend, while Hierro is too damn slow) Makelele won't be able to stop everything alone in the midfield.

[3ric]

Another rumor is that Figo stays on the right, and Beckham plays in the middle in front of Makelele.

[Darkiller]

well, you'd rather have Zidane playing in the middle !!!

[Easy Mac]

I feel sorry for the opposing keeper... Who would want to face Becks and Roberto Carlos hovering over the ball on a free kick... scary.

[Karim]

I can't believe that Beckham agreed to the contract. 50% of all personal sponsorship money goes to the club, he no longer can have promotional tours like he currently is on in Japan, and he's taking a pay cut on his base salary.

He needs a new agent...

[MIJB#19]

Maybe leaving England was such a big deal afterall?

[3ric]

Originally posted by Karim
I can't believe that Beckham agreed to the contract. 50% of all personal sponsorship money goes to the club, he no longer can have promotional tours like he currently is on in Japan, and he's taking a pay cut on his base salary.

He needs a new agent...

No, that's the same deal as everyone else on Real has. It wouldn't be possible to have Becks get a better contract than Raul, Ronaldo, Figo or Zidane. So everyone of them gets paid the same wage and with the same contract clauses.

And, Becks was basically hired firstly for the revenue he'd bring in to Real, for his skills second.

[Cards4ever]

For those of you that love Transfer rumors, here is a great site.

http://www.footballtransfers.co.uk/index.asp

[daedalus]

I was reading one of the soccer magazine a bit back about the personal sponsorship deal that the Real stars sign. The one thing that wasn't mentioned is that those guys get to use Real Madrid's actual logo or what nots in their sponsorship thing. So, presumably that may be able to bring up the amount they get from those deals some.

Also, I read that he *could* still do the promotional tours but he has to limit it to the whatever offseason is.

[3ric]

And, the 50% of the sponsor deals covers only those he signs while under contract with Real... current deals aren't affected.

[atatange1]

I just looked at my SI and there is a big piece on how/why Man U (its pre Real deal) would want to unload him. I haven't read it yet but I thought I'd let you guys know.

[Karim]

So the 50% under Real is more than he would make solo? That's hard to believe but I'll take your word for it. If the pay cut in base salary is minimal, then ok, but it just sounds like Real is making him grab his ankles.

[Karim]

Dola

On second thought, Real is one of the most popular teams in the world so 50% might actually be more...

I don't know. It's just strange to hear of such a star in any sport succumbing to the demands of the team like that...

[klayman]

I think Beckham was giving up £70k of his £90k/week salary at Man Utd for his exclusive marketing rights. That works out to about £3.6M per year, so while he's giving up 50% to Real he will be making his full £90k/week in salary. It is probably close to a wash, so I don't think Real is making Beckham grab his ankles to sign with them. Add the fact that he has a better chance at Real for a champions league medal (in my opinion), I don't think Beckham is crying over the deal. He certainly didn't waste any time agreeing to terms with them.

[Mac Howard]

It does seem that he might be losing out (I understand his sponsership deals brought him over 10 million a year). But his agent/advisors also represent Michael Jordan, Elton John, David Bowie ......... and I suspect those guys will know how to get the best deal :D

But he will have to abide by the club's cultural ideal which is that no player is even remotely more important than Real and you really must toe the line on that. Players are virtually "owned" by the club and they must do what the club requires them to do.

It might be a culture shock for him. He had a lot of freedom at Utd provided it didn't affect his game.

Incidentally, here's yet another take on what happened:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,980319,00.html

[daedalus]

Out of curiosity . . . how does Beckham's game matches up with Real and Spanish football?

[MIJB#19]

Originally posted by daedalus
Out of curiosity . . . how does Beckham's game matches up with Real and Spanish football? Let put it this way, there are two scales:
Offensive attitude (OA) and hard tackling (HT).

Imagine a 90 mins attacking league as a 10 in OA and the Italian way of doing things as a 1.
Spain would fit somewhere in the middle, as most teams play defensive, except Real and Barcelona, who play to score goals, in stead of to keep the own goal clean. The 100,000 fans would not like to see their teams play like the Italian sissies.

Concerning hard tackling, Spanish (league) defenders can be really nasty, but since Beckham isn't a penalty area intruder, he shouldn't be as much affected as strikers do.

Moving from the offensive minded Man Utd (and playing on the English team), playing for all out offense Real Madrid is supposed to be a dream coming true for any offensive minded player.

One thing that Beckham should realize is that Real fans already have their own hero (Raúl), can watch the best playmaker since Gullit:D (Zidane). On the other hand, if Figo really is leaving and Beckham gets his role, then Beckham will have the space to walk all over the field (more then at Man U) and has another super striker (Ronaldo in stead of Van Nistelrooij) to cross to.

[daedalus]

Another question . . . couldn't they just move either Beckham or Figo into the middle?

[BreizhManu]

Unless it is just behind the strikers, no.

both are good crossers and in the case of Beckham, that's the only thing he can really do (but he's the best in the world in that category).

[lytic]

Slightly off-subject:
I can't imagine any team in the MLS paying $41mil for a 4 year deal. Just imagine trying to attract big time players for pennies on the dollar...

[daedalus]

Somebody brought this up in a soccer magazine. Basically, they wouldn't pay that much nor would they be able to afford the salary ANYWAY. But what he said was a possibility would've been for some sponsor who wanted to see if they could get more exposure (say, Nike) made up the rest for that player. Kind of farfetched but an interesting possibility regardless.

[MIJB#19]

Maybe planting Figo on the left and letting Roberto Carlos play as a real leftside fullback, in stead of a backwards walking leftwinger, could Figo keep playing in Madrid.

I mean, to me Real never seemed like a club that says goodbye to star players by just signing the only other player at that position in the world who is better in only one aspect of the game.

On a side note, maybe Real can snatch Barcelona's not so popular free agent Dutch caps record holding central defender Frank de Boer for a one or two year 'stint'?
Or how about defensive/attacking central/leftside midfielder/defender/attacker Phillip Cocu, also on a 'Bosman' from Barça?