Utd treat me like a piece of meat
David Beckham feels betrayed by Manchester United, claiming he is being ´traded round like a piece of meat´. And with United employing super agent Pini Zahavi to get the best possible deal from selling Becks, his move is poised to explode into the most bitter transfer fight in history. AC Milan last night spiced up the £30million battle by confirming they want to sign the England superstar. The Italians´ vice-chairman Adriano Galliani said: " Beckham is our primary target. We are pursuing our objective and will do everything in our power to get him." Galliani´s comments throw Milan into direct confrontation with Barcelona presidential hopeful Joan Laporta, who has verbally agreed a £30m deal with United. Beckham, 28, could earn £32m over four years with the Spaniards but has told friends he is fed up with United. A close pal revealed: " He feels ostracised by Manchester United. All he has ever done is give his best to the club. Now he believes he is being traded round like a piece of meat."
Neil Custis, The Sun
Time to go
David Beckham´s controversial world tour has convinced Sir Alex Ferguson that Manchester United can do without their publicity-seeking midfielder. Ferguson, who has acted as a father figure to Beckham at Old Trafford for 15 years, had wanted to keep the England captain dispite his disapproval of the showbiz lifestyle and a suspicion that he saves his energy for internationals. But even Ferguson´s paternal instincts were stretched by Beckham´s decision to devote his summer to a promotional tour of America and the Far East.
Steve Curry, Daily Mail
The deal that made David disposable
David Beckham became a disposable asset to Manchester United the day they banked their first £24million cheque from sponsors Nike. When the deal with the sportswear manufacturers was agreed in November 2000 no-one could have envisaged that the marketing arrangement, which began last season, would have a far-reaching effect on Beckham´s future. But that deal, worth £300million to United over 13 years, handed over the whole business of shirt sales to Nike. The club now receive guaranteed income in this area, rather than fluctuating revenue depending on the popularity of their players.
Steve Curry, Daily Mail
Stick or twist?
David Beckham finds himself in a most unenviable position this morning. England´s captain appears to have four options after his employers at Manchester United admitted discussing his future with a string on foreign suitors - and none of them seem terribly attractive.
Matt Lawton, Daily Mail
Fergie fears a Beck lash
Manchester United are desperate to sell David Beckham to Barcelona - because they fear a Champions League backlash from the England skipper. Old Trafford officials are terrified of Becks scoring for European rivals Real Madrid or AC Milan against them next season. They know it would be a PR disaster for the club - and Sir Alex Ferguson would come under immediate pressure for forcing the fans´ favourite out of the door.
Danny Fullbrook, Daily Star
Barca go solo on offer
Barcelona are the only club to have made a firm offer to Manchester United for David Beckham. Their main rivals Real Madrid and AC Milan have only so far made contact with the England captain´s agent.
Harry Harris, Daily Star
Laporta in poll boost
Support for Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta has surged since he made the signing of David Beckham the cornerstone of his bid for the Nou Camp hotseat. Rival for the job Lluis Bassat set the pace, but his backing has dwindled according to a poll carried out by a Spanish sports paper.
Harry Harris, Daily Star
Another 48 hours
David Beckham will make up his mind about whether he wants to play for Barcelona in the next 48 hours. Nou Camp presidential candidate Joan Laporta has made contact with Beckham´s agents to outline his plans for Barcelona, including the acquisition of a new coach and four other players. And Tony Stephens, Beckham´s representative at SFX, has promised a decision on whether the England captain is interested in considering their move within 48 hours.
Harry Harris, Daily Express
Sell Becks, earn £1.5m
Super-agent Pini Zahavi will be paid £1.5million by Manchester United to sell David Beckham. There is no argument Beckham is being kicked out of Old Trafford. And United want him to go on their terms, not his. That is why they have employed Zahavi, a close friend of boss Alex Ferguson. Zahavi brokered the Rio Ferdinand transfer from Leeds to United last summer for £30m and was also a major player in the club´s £28.1m purchase of Juan Veron. Nobody pushes the price higher than Zahavi and Beckham would command a transfer fee of £30m-plus. So United reasoned that with Zahavi having managed to get £58.1m out of them over the last couple of years, he was the best man to get the maximum for their England skipper.
Shaun Custis, The Sun
David so special to Sven
Sven Goran Eriksson has finally admitted his skipper David Beckham is a special case. SunSport revealed last week that Becks would have been given his own villa had he gone on England´s training camp to La Manga. But the Manchester United midfielder, 28, missed the get-together because he is banned for Wednesday´s Euro 2004 qualifier with Slovakia. England coach Eriksson said: " He would not have stayed in the hotel - that would have been impossible. We would have put him close to it in a private villa. I´ve never had a player like this. Normally we would never do different arrangements. But this time our security people saw problems."
Shaun Custis, The Sun
Houl´s Fin the mood
Liverpool have won the race to sign Steve Finnan from Fulham in a £3.5million deal. The Republic of Ireland star, 27, agreed terms with Kop boss Gerard Houllier despite interest from Manchester United. Houllier has been chasing the right-sided defender for three months. Finnan started his career with non-League Welling and had spells with Birmingham and Notts County before joining Fulham for £600,000 in 1998. He became a key figure for the London side in their rise to the Premiership and made 215 appearances.
Ben Kinsella, The Sun
Nev says sorry
Phil Neville has become the first England skipper in history to apologise for wearing the captain´s armband. The Manchester United utility man was shocked and embarrassed to become one of Sven Goran Eriksson´s four team leaders in last week´s chaotic friendly win over Serbia. And he insists: " Even the players who were passed the armband last week have apologised and I don´t think any insult to the captaincy was ever intended. It was just one of those situations where it probably didn´t get thought about that much. But I only wore it for about 25 minutes and though it was a great, great honour to be the England captain I don´t think it was a big deal."
Mark Irwin, The Sun
Roll up for circus Becks
Even when he is 6,000 miles away, David Beckham casts a shadow over the England squad. While Sven Goran Eriksson´s depleted troops were yesterday training near Middlesbrough ahead of Wednesday´s Euro 2004 qualifier with Slovakia, Beckham, his wife Victoria and their sons were lapping up the California sunshine. Fevered speculation surrounds Beckham´s future at club level, with the prospect of him leaving Manchester United apparently growing. Yet after England revealed the extraordinary security the FA decided was needed had Beckham joined the earlier training camp in La Manga, the problem of controlling a seemingly uncontrollable phenomenon became crystal clear. The very thought that one member of an England squad would be housed separately from his team-mates because of his global celebrity would normally have been laughed off as ridiculous.
Martin Lipton, Daily Mirror
Milan: We want him
AC Milan last night jumped to the head of the queue of clubs vying to sign David Beckham, admitting for the first time that the England skipper tops their wish-list. After Manchester United effectively signalled the start of the race for Beckham, the likelihood of him starting next season at the San Siro increased. Milan managing director Adriano Galliani confessed: " Beckham is in our sights and we are pursuing the whole business." But with Barcelona still hoping to lure Beckham, United´s chances of landing either Andriy Shevchenko or Alessandro Nesta as part of a cash-plus-player deal were scuppered by Milan.
Martin Lipton, Daily Mirror
Rivals´ transfer talk spices up Barca battle
David Beckham was at the centre of a new war of words yesterday - between Barcelona presidential rivals Joan Laporta and Lluis Bassat. Laporta´s claims that he has a deal in place with Manchester United if he wins the vote next weekend were mocked by early front-runner Bassat. Bassat - who claims he was offered Beckham by an agent and turned him down - said: " Mr Laporta should explain how he is going to do all of this. AC Milan are in a better financial position than us and they cannot afford to pay for Beckham or his wages. I am not going to do anything to win the election or fool voters by using names to get votes." In a poll in one paper Laporta is gaining some ground on Bassat, whose image as an ally of former president Joan Gaspart is also damaging him slightly.
Alan Nixon, Daily Mirror
Neville: England fans now cheer me
Phil Neville believes he has finally won over his England doubters and proved he deserves his place on the international stage. When the England team was announced prior to kick-off in last week´s friendly against Serbia and Montenegro, Neville´s was the only one greeted with a chorus of boos. But by the time he left the pitch after a man-of-the-match display in the holding midfield role, the much-maligned Manchester United star was treated to deserved and sustained applause. Ever since he conceded the late penalty against Romania which led to England´s early exit from Euro 2000, Neville has been a figure of ridicule, a player not considered worthy of international football. But he successfully re-invented himself from full-back to tenacious midfield battler at United this season, the role he will be entrusted with in Wednesday´s Euro 2004 qualifier against Slovakia. It has been a long, slow and, at times, painful process for the modest 26-year-old, but Neville claims he never had any doubts he would one day prove his army of critics wrong. " I think people´s opinions about me have changed for the better," said Neville. " A lot of negative things have been said and written about me in the past. I think a lot of that was to do with the Romania game, but I´ve worked hard since then to prove myself and I´m so pleased to be back in the squad after a year out.
David McDonnell, Daily Mirror
Yorke on way back to Villa
Dwight Yorke is being lined up for a surprise return to Aston Villa. The out-of-favour Blackburn Rovers striker will be heading back for the club that launched him in English football if a deal can be agreed for straight cash, or a swap involving Turkish centre-half Alpay. Villa made the approach over the weekend to find out how much Yorke, 31, will cost a year on from his cut-rate £3.5million switch from Manchester United. Blackburn will sell Yorke, who fell out with manager Graeme Souness twice last season and was also dropped for turning up late for one match. Souness will let Yorke go if it suits him. He has already asked about Alpay only for new manager David O´Leary to say that he wants to keep him.
Alan Nixon, Daily Mirror
