Daily Gossip
by Jennifer Pinner
David and Victoria Beckham are set to move to LA
For a few weeks now, nuts4chic have been reporting that Victoria Beckham has been frequently travelling back and forth from Spain to LA in pursuit of a new Hollywood home, which thus triggered speculation that David Beckham was leaving Real Madrid.
However, our little spies were right because the Beckhams are indeed moving to LA, but David insists the shift to Tinseltown is not due to the cash – but the challenge of converting America’s children to soccer.
David told The Sun newspaper: “Soccer in America is the biggest played sport up to a certain age, and that’s where I want to take it to another level. Eventually it can go higher than anyone can probably believe in America.”
David and Victoria only agreed to make the sensational move last Sunday and yesterday our Golden Balls signed for Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy after a number of showdown talks with his current club, Real Madrid.
It has now been decided he will move on when his contract ends in the summer. Becks — who moved to Madrid from Manchester United in 2003 — issued a statement saying: “After discussing several options with my family and advisers to either stay here at Madrid or join other major British and European clubs, I have decided to join the Los Angeles Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year. I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world’s most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own.”
Simon Fuller, who brokered the deal and is chief executive of 19
Entertainment told The Sun last night: “I always wanted to create history with the biggest sport deal ever and David Beckham is the only athlete in the world who could have made this happen. His decision to move to the Los Angeles Galaxy and play in the MLS is the beginning of probably his greatest and most important adventure of all.”
This move is, without doubt, going to create an even bigger wealth for David, who will earn £5million-a-year wages - which will be paid by a combination of the MLS league, the club, its parent company AEG and sports giant Adidas.
He can expect another £2.6million from sales of replica shirts
plus sponsorship and advertising with Pepsi will earn him another £13 million.
A source close to Becks said: “It’s not bad for a guy who was brought up in a working class area of Essex.”
The move will also give Becks more time to work at the soccer school he set up at the Galaxy’s home in Carson, California. A club insider said: “It was an offer he simply couldn’t refuse. He’ll be feted wherever he goes and the lynchpin of the team rather than on the subs’ bench. The Galaxy wanted him so bad they were prepared to pay such a figure and guarantee him an incredible lifestyle in LA. They’ll have the home, the cars, great schools for the kids — and Beverly Hills shopping for Posh.”
Galaxy are the most successful franchise in the MLS.
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