SOCCER:ALEX FERGUSON has voiced reservations about the impact David Beckham will have for Tottenham Hotspur if he returns to English football on a two-month loan to the London club.
As Tottenham cleared space in their squad for Beckham by agreeing a deal for David Bentley to join Birmingham City on loan until May, the club were in advanced talks with the former England captain.
Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, said yesterday a deal for Beckham could be completed in advance of his team’s FA Cup third-round tie against Charlton tomorrow. But Ferguson believes there is a downside to the short-term nature of the proposed deal from Los Angeles Galaxy.
“The thing with David if he comes to England is that he will have to go back in March,” the Manchester United manager said. “It’s a very short-term loan and we had the same situation with Henrik Larsson in 2007.
“We utilised those two months well and Henrik played a great part, but we knew we would miss him at the very time when we would have liked to have had him – at the tail-end of the season. But that was the arrangement, so we had to move on.”
Ferguson never contemplated moving for Beckham because he believes his former player is on the wane.
“Obviously anyone at 35 is looking at the twilight years of his career,” he said. “I have players at United like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville who grew up with David and are at the same level. They know they are coming towards the end of their careers and the horrible part of being a manager is seeing that. These players are eventually going to retire. David knows that better than anyone.”
That is not a view shared by Redknapp, who has described signing Beckham as a “no-brainer” despite having never seen the midfielder play for Galaxy or knowing for sure his level of fitness – Beckham’s last competitive game was on November 15th.
“He’s not a punch-drunk heavyweight champion who’s washed up and skint,” Redknapp said. “This is a boy who’s in the prime of life. I think he could give the other players a lift and he can definitely deliver a ball. It’s no good having Peter Crouch if you can’t get the ball to him in the air. Beckham has the ability to do that.
“He will be a great asset. There is a good chance we will get David Beckham. It’s just a case of sorting one or two bits and pieces. Our secretary told me it’s going to happen. He could be here on Sunday.”
While discussions are progressing between both clubs, it wouldn’t in fact appear an agreement is not imminent. Galaxy are nervous about allowing Beckham to play elsewhere given he suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon during a loan spell at Milan last season and it is believed an agreement over the number of games he would play at Spurs is a stumbling block to the loan being finalised, as is the financing of his €30 million-a-year contract.
